


To the Fairies He Draws Near

by bonniepride



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: F/F, Fredashi, M/M, fairy! tadashi, self indulgent fantasy au fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-02-23 04:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23372227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonniepride/pseuds/bonniepride
Summary: On his way home from SFIT one night, Fred finds two kids torturing a butterfly in the park. He manages to rescue the butterfly, only to find that it's not a butterfly at all, but a fairy named Tadashi. An unexpected romance blooms as Fred tries to find a way to protect Tadashi and his family, and discovers more about himself than he ever imagined.
Relationships: Fred | Fredzilla/Tadashi Hamada, Honey Lemon/Go Go Tomago
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

It was late on a Friday night when Fred started walking home from SFIT through the hazy dusk that always fell over the city when the sun went down. After spending the evening mascotting at homecoming, he was exhausted and yet at the same time still buzzing with the excited energy that came from cheering on the team and performing at halftime. It had been a close victory, but the home team, the SFIT Ninjas, had managed to just squeak by, their quarterback scoring the winning touchdown in the last five seconds on the clock. Practically the entire university--hell, even a good portion of the city--was celebrating the victory right now. Fred had stuck around for a while after the game to congratulate the team, but after about an hour he’d finally slipped away from all the festivities to change out of his mascot uniform and head home. It was a Friday night, after all. And now that he’d had his fun dressing up as a kaiju for the university, he was ready to take a nice hot bath to wash away all the sweat he’d worked up from jumping and dancing around and then settle in for an old fashioned nerd movie marathon. 

Maybe Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, he muses to himself as he makes his way through the city park. He’d have to see what he was in the mood for after he’d gotten some food into his stomach. Recently he’d been on something of a fantasy kick (he tended to rotate through his different fandoms depending on his mood and what was currently trending on tumblr), and that’s part of the reason he’d chosen to walk home tonight instead of having Heathcliff, the family butler, pick him up after the game. He liked walking in the park at dusk--there was something faintly magical about the small forest that bordered it. The woods always looked so mysterious with only the glow of the street lamps providing faint illumination to them, and Fred felt like any number of mythical creatures could be hiding just out of view in the shadows of the trees. 

He was near the edge of the park when he notices two young boys (not exactly children, but not quite teenagers either) hunched underneath the glow of one of the lamp posts. For a moment he felt concerned for them, wondering why they were out in the park this late without any adults supervising them. Were they lost? But as he draws closer he hears their rough, almost mocking laughter as they poke at something on the ground between them with a sharp stick and he finds himself grimacing. He knew that kind of laugh. It was the sort of laugh he’d heard the bullies he’d dealt with in his growing up years use whenever they were making another living being miserable. Often the laughter of the bullies had been directed at him as he’d been one of their favorite targets, and the sound of these two boys’ sadistic chortling was enough to bring up some rather unpleasant memories of his own childhood.

Part of Fred was tempted to just walk past the kids and avoid causing any trouble for himself. He could do nothing and just pass on by and be home in less than half an hour, safe and sound in his own room. But he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. Whatever they were torturing, it didn’t deserve the kind of treatment it was receiving. Hell, for all he knew, it might even end up dead since they seemed to have no regard whatsoever for the poor creature’s life. 

Fred wasn’t exactly the most threatening person in the world, but he tries to make himself seem as large as possible as he approaches them, squaring his shoulders and shouting, “Hey! Stop that!”

The two boys look up at him, startled, but after taking a moment to size him up they seem to decide that he isn’t much of a threat.

“Who’s gonna make us stop?” the older boy drawls. 

“Yeah, who? You?” the younger boy chimes in, sneering at the fanboy. 

“M-Maybe,” Fred answers, trying to sound brave but realizing as the older boy stands up that maybe they were a little more evenly matched than he’d originally thought--the kid was up to his shoulders, and pretty well built at that. 

“I don’t think so.” The older boy shakes his head and then makes a threatening motion which makes Fred instinctively jerk back. The fanboy’s reaction draws coarse laughter from both of the kids, and Fred feels himself flushing with both irritation and shame. 

“Look, what’s it going to take for you to leave that thing alone?” he asks, disgusted with himself for being so weak. “Don’t you care about the fact that you’re hurting another living being?” 

“It’s just a stupid butterfly.” The older boy rolls his eyes at him. “It’s not like it matters what we do to it.”

“And it’s going to look real cool pinned on my wall,” the younger boy adds with a rather sadistic looking grin. 

Okay, so appealing to their better nature obviously wasn’t going to work. Well, that wasn’t Fred’s only option here. He knew one form of motivation that always seemed to work on jerks like these. 

“What if I pay you to leave it alone?” Fred offers, reaching for his wallet and glad that he actually had some loose cash with him for once.

This seems to catch the boys’ interest. 

“How much?” the elder asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“I’ve got fifty on me. Take it or leave it,” Fred answers. 

“Fifty  _ dollars _ ?” The younger’s eyes seem to almost bulge out of his head. 

“Is it a deal?” Fred asks, keeping his voice level.

“You bet it’s a deal!” The older boy all but snatches the money out of his hand, a wicked grin on his face as he laughs and adds, “Enjoy your stupid butterfly!”

Fred sighs as the two boys run off into the darkness. So he’d just taught these kids that they could actually make money off of cruelty. Fantastic. But that didn’t matter right now. He’d gotten them to leave the creature they’d been torturing alone. And even if it was just a butterfly, he couldn’t have walked away with a good conscience leaving it here to spend its final moments in misery. No one and nothing deserved that kind of death. 

“Please, please still be alive,” Fred whispers as he kneels down next to the tiny crumpled figure on the ground. Depending on how badly it was already hurt, he might be too late already. Still, it was a surprisingly large butterfly--maybe it was sturdy enough to have survived. He didn’t see any movement coming from it, but he carefully turns it over in his hands, trying to gauge the level of damage to its main body to see if there was any possibility of saving it. 

As soon as his eyes settle on the creature’s underside (the part that had until now been hidden by the wings), he feels his heart stuttering to a halt in his chest. 

No. No way. No  _ way _ . There was no possible way that he could be seeing what he thought he was seeing. It wasn’t possible. These weren’t supposed to be real--they only existed in stories! And yet, unless he was hallucinating (and he doubted he was given he hadn’t drunk anything but gatorade that night), there was no denying what he was holding in his hands. 

A fairy. He was holding a real, live fairy. 

Or, at least, he  _ hoped _ it was still alive. The miniscule body in his hand, barely longer than the length of his palm, was so tiny that he had no idea of how to check its vital signs. Panic rises up in his chest as the reality of the situation sets in. 

Oh God. Oh God. He had just found an actual fairy--something that had only happened in the wildest of his fantasies--and yet he had absolutely no idea how to help it. It wasn’t like he could take it to a doctor or even a vet. What was he supposed to do except maybe pray for a miracle?

“Please, please be okay,” Fred breathes, heart pounding erratically in his chest as he does his best to search for any signs of life. The incredibly delicate rib cage of the creature seems to be rising and falling, and as he ever so gently presses the pad of his finger to it he thinks he feels the faintest of heartbeats. But it’s hard to see in the darkness, and he’s afraid that he might be imagining things. Finally, sucking in a deep breath for courage, he gives the fairy’s side a nudge, hoping that maybe if he could rouse the creature it could tell him how to best help it.

For one horrible minute, there’s no response, and Fred is convinced that it’s too late--that he hadn’t manage to save the fairy in time and he’s going to have to dig a grave to bury the tiny body in. But then the creature’s eyes flutter open and, with a cough so quiet that Fred almost couldn’t hear it, slowly sits up in his palm, looking dazed and confused. 

“Oh my gosh, you’re alive!” Fred shouts joyously, only to realize that being so loud hadn’t been the best idea as the fairy clamps its hand over its tiny ears before looking up at him in shock, its mouth forming a perfect “o” of horror.

“It’s okay!” Fred says quickly, this time keeping his voice a near whisper in hopes that he wouldn’t be too loud this time. “I promise, I’m not going to hurt you!”

But in spite of his reassurances, the fairy scrambles to its feet, stumbling backwards in his hand and spreading its wings as if getting ready to fly away. Fred feels his heart plunging in disappointment, but he doesn’t try to stop it. As much as he wanted to talk to it--to find out everything that he could about this incredible creature--he knew it must be terrified right now and attempting to stop it would just be cruel. 

Still, as he watches the fairy starts to flap its wings, it quickly becomes obvious that something is extremely wrong. After only a couple of flaps, the fairy crumples back down into his hand, a look of intense pain on its face that even Fred could see in spite of how small its features were. 

“Are you okay?” the fanboy asks, desperately trying to figure out how to help. “Is something injured?”

“M-My wings,” the fairy answers in a tiny, bell-like voice after a moment of silence, grimacing and looking like it wanted to be doing anything but be speaking to the human but seeing no other choice. “S-Something’s wrong with them…” 

“Those damn kids…” Fred growls, anger filling his chest. Those little brats! They’d injured a fairy. A  _ fairy _ , of all things--a beautiful, delicate mythical being that deserved be treated with respect and care, not tortured to death! This was completely unforgivable! 

Trying to remind himself to stay calm and focus on the problem at hand, Fred asks, “Where do you need to go? If there’s someone who can help you, I can carry you to them since you can’t fly right now!” 

“Thanks, but no thanks.” The fairy gives him a scathing look, obviously not trusting him, and then, without another word, slides down off of his hands and onto the grass, coming to a clumsy landing on the hard dirt and doing its best to stay upright in spite of the fact that it seemed a bit imbalanced at the moment.

Fred was about to protest, realizing that the fairy was planning to attempt to walk to its destination and thinking about all of the dangers that a fairy with injured wings might encounter here in the park after dark--anything from stray cats, who would think it a toy or even a midnight snack, to more unsavory characters like the kids who had hurt the poor creature in the first place. But then something happens that completely wipes all of those concerns out of the fanboy’s mind and leaves him so shocked that he can’t even speak.

A soft glow starts emanating from the fairy’s body, and, moments later, it appears to be growing steadily larger. Fred finds himself scrambling back to make more room, and, a moment later, the fairy’s transformation was complete. The fairy was still very much a fairy--it still had its almost luminescent green and black wings on its back. But it was now the size of an average human, perhaps even a bit taller, and Fred finds himself grappling to come to terms with what had just happened, as well as coming to terms with the fairy’s appearance. 

Up until now, he hadn’t been able to see the fairy clearly--he’d been pretty sure that it was a guy, but when it had been so small it had been hard to tell. Now, though, it was quite obvious that the fairy was a guy. And not just a guy--a very,  _ very  _ attractive guy. Fred finds himself blushing a little bit as his eyes involuntarily trace over the fairy’s features, taking in the deep, almost chocolate brown eyes, the soft black hair, and the adorably large pointed ears. The other man’s clothes appeared to be made almost entirely from plant matter--brown leaves making up his leggings and his woven tunic that appeared to be made of green leaves fastened around his waist with a belt of tree bark. In short, he was everything the fanboy had ever imagined a fairy would look like--and also just about everything that Fred considered to be the aesthetics for a perfect guy. 

“H-How did you do that?” the fanboy gasps.

The other man just gives him a cool look, seeming to feel that question didn’t deserve an actual reply. He stubbornly turns towards the woods, starting to limp his way towards the treeline. But he doesn’t get far. After only a few steps, he crumples to the ground again.

“Please, let me help you!” Fred begs as he races forward to kneel by the fairy’s side “You’re injured, you need help!”

“How do I know I can trust you?” the fairy demands, eyes flashing with suspicion as he looks over at the human but a hint of desperation making its way into his voice, as if he had finally accepted the fact that he wasn’t going to get very far on his own.

“I guess you can’t know for sure,” Fred admits. “But I already saved you from those kids earlier. And if I wanted to capture you, I could have stuffed you in a jar or something while you were still tiny. So I’m hoping my actions speak for themselves.”

The fairy stares at him incredulously for a moment before asking,“You were the one who saved me from those kids who pinned me down and were trying to stab me to death with a stick?”

“Yeah, that was me!” Fred agrees, hoping that this meant that he was making progress. “I mean, to be fair, at the time I thought you were just a butterfly. But I don’t think it’s right for anyone to hurt another living thing, even a butterfly, so I paid them off to get them to leave you alone. You really had me scared there for a minute once they finally left--I thought they’d already done you in. You have no idea how happy I was to find out that you were still alive!” 

The fairy seems to be considering his words and then finally nods his head, as if choosing to accept them. “I was on the ground taking a rest when they found me,” he explains quietly.“I’d only landed for a minute, but they pinned my wings down before I could fly away so I couldn’t escape. I was sure that they were going to be the end me… I must have blacked out at some point because the next thing I remember I was waking up with you holding me.” He takes a deep breath before offering Fred a slightly begrudging smile and adding, “If you really did save me… Thank you. I owe you a debt of gratitude.” 

“Hey, it was the right thing to do,” Fred tells him with a nonchalant shrug, although inside he was thrilled that the fairy actually seemed to be starting to trust him. 

“I’m Fred,” the fanboy adds, offering the other man his hand, only to quickly realize that he had no idea if fairies actually shook hands. 

Fortunately the fairy seems to understand the gesture as he momentarily clasps the fanboy’s hand in his own before letting go and answering, “I’m Tadashi.” 

“Tadashi,” Fred repeats, enjoying the feeling of the name on his tongue. It was every bit as perfect as the rest of the fairy. 

“I have no idea how I’m going to get home tonight…” The other man’s eyes eyes are drawn to the dark forest line, worry clearly showing in them. “I can barely walk, and I can’t fly…”

“I can help you get home!” Fred quickly offers again. Seeing the doubtful expression on the fairy’s face, he urges, “Please, I just want to make sure that you’re safe! There’s no way that I’m going to leave you out here where only God knows what could happen to you!”

“...Fine,” Tadashi sighs after a moment, his shoulders sinking in defeat. “My aunt’s going to kill me for showing a human where we live, but I don’t see any other choice…”

“Great!” Fred beams at him before asking. “How far is where you live from here?” 

“Just a little ways into the forest,” Tadashi answers, his wings fluttering involuntarily as he points in the proper direction and making him wince. 

“Come on, then.” Fred gently offers him his hand. “Either I can help you walk, or you can hitch a ride on me--whatever’s easier for you.”

“I feel like I’d have more dignity walking,” Tadashi tells him slowly before sighing and adding, “But riding would get me there faster. And I know Aunt Cass is probably worried enough as it is. She sent me out to find Hiro over an hour ago--she’s probably frantic by now.”

“Hiro?” Fred repeats curiously. 

“My little brother,” Tadashi answers with a wry smile. “He has a bad habit of wandering off and going on ‘adventures’ on his own and usually gets himself into trouble. I guess I’m the one who managed to get myself into trouble this time…”

“Hey, that wasn’t your fault!” Fred argues. 

“I suppose not,” Tadashi answers doubtfully. “I didn’t plan on getting ambushed when all I was trying to do was catch my breath for a second…” 

“See? You totally couldn’t have planned for that!” Fred agrees, feeling a bit of anger again towards the boys who had hurt this beautiful creature but forcing the feeling back down so that he can focus on actually helping Tadashi.

“So, um--are you going to be okay shrinking back down or whatever it is that you do?” he asks, realizing that if he was going to be carrying the fairy back home then Tadashi was going to have to get a lot smaller again. 

“Oh, right!” Tadashi flashes him an embarrassed smile before closing his eyes, a look of concentration on his face. Only a few moments later, he starts growing smaller and smaller until he’s the same size that he’d been when Fred had found him earlier. 

“That is still insanely cool!” the fanboy says with a grin as he offers the fairy his hand. 

“Thanks,” Tadashi chuckles, actually seeming slightly amused by the compliment as he carefully climbs into the waiting palm and settles himself onto it. 

Once he seemed to be in a comfortable position, Fred gingerly stands up, doing his best not to make any sudden movements that would cause the fairy any more pain or discomfort than he was already in. 

“You just tell me where to go and I’ll follow your lead,” Fred says as he starts making his way towards the woods. 

“All right,” Tadashi agrees, almost seeming to be smiling at him as he points towards a gap in the trees. “It’s that way.”

“Gotcha!” Fred nods to signify that he understands before heading in the direction that the fairy had indicated. 

It takes a good ten minutes to actually maneuver their way through the dark woods, and Fred almost trips over a raised root once. But by some miracle (and maybe just a tiny bit of magic), they finally find themselves in front of what the fanboy could only assume was Tadashi’s home.

Fred really had no idea what a fairy house would look like, or if fairies even had houses. As it was, what he was looking at now appeared to be an abandoned wooden crate, grown over with moss, toadstools, and other types of forest vegetation. It would have seemed like just another abandoned piece of trash if it hadn’t been for the tiny door fashioned into the side of it and the faint glow emanating from inside.

“This is where you live?” the fanboy asks, glancing down at the fairy for confirmation.

“It is,” Tadashi tells him.

Fred almost made a comment about how cute it was but then suddenly has a flashback to all the fantasy novels he’d read where someone had made the mistake of calling something fairy related “cute” and raised the ire of one of the tiny mythical beings. He manages to swallow the potentially offending words back just in time, instead opting for, “It’s very nice.”

“Thanks,” Tadashi says, smiling up at the other man again. 

“Dashi? Dashi, is that you?” Fred hears a tiny voice coming from the inside of the crate, and he looks down to see what almost looked like a fluffy black dandelion but turned out to be the head of another fairy poking out of the door in the side of the crate. This new fairy glances both left and right before finally looking up and seeing Fred. The tiny boy lets out a terrified squeak at the sight of the human, darting back into the house and shouting, “Aunt Cass! Aunt Cass!” 

“Oh no…” Tadashi quietly groans, shaking his head. “I’d better get in there and explain before they both panic… And you should probably get going before Aunt Cass comes out here and tries to put a curse on you--or worse.” 

“Oh, o-okay,” Fred agrees, realizing that this particular adventure was at an end and carefully depositing the fairy next to the door. “Will you be okay getting in on your own?”

“Yeah, this is close enough,” Tadashi reassures him as he holds onto the side of the crate, a grateful smile showing on his face in the glow coming from the door. 

“Any chance that I could come back and see you sometime?” the fanboy manages to get out before he loses his courage.

“I’d really like that,” Tadashi answers, his smile growing just the tiniest bit and a rosy color lightly dusting his cheeks. “Tonight isn’t a good time, I still need to talk to my aunt and explain all of this. But maybe you could come back tomorrow?” 

“Yeah, that would be great!” Fred agrees, thrilled by the fact that Tadashi actually seemed to want to see him again too. 

The fairy sounds almost shy as he adds, “Maybe you can even come inside for a proper visit so we can talk and… Well, get to know each other a bit better? That is, provided Aunt Cass has calmed down some and I’ve convinced her that you’re not an ‘evil human’ who wants to put us on display in a museum or lock us up in a lab...”

“Um, sure?” Fred agrees, knowing full well that there was no way he could ever fit inside the tiny house but deciding to be polite enough not to say anything. Maybe Tadashi had suffered a concussion on top of his wing injuries and was a bit confused at the moment. 

“All right. I’ll see you then,” Tadashi tells him, grinning and waving before making his way into the house, closing the door behind him as he goes. 

“See you,” Fred repeats softly before getting to his feet and starting to stumble his way back through the forest, feeling even more giddy than he’d felt earlier tonight when the team had won the game. The homecoming game felt like a distant memory after everything that had just happened. 

A fairy. He’d just met a real fairy. A real, incredibly handsome fairy named Tadashi who actually wanted to see him again! It was almost too good to be true. But when he pinches himself to make sure that he’s not dreaming, it’s clear from the stinging pain that he is awake, meaning that it was all true--really, incredibly true. 

Floating on cloud nine, Fred makes his way towards home, already counting the seconds until he could see Tadashi again. 


	2. Chapter 2

Fred spends the rest of the night feeling slightly jittery and far too energetic for having just mascotted an entire university game. His body was physically exhausted, but his mind was racing at a million miles an hour and he couldn’t find a way to slow it down, no matter how hard he tried. Hot shower, putting on his comfiest pajama pants, trying to read  _ The Sorcerer's Stone  _ while lying on his bed--none of his usual methods were working. If he wasn’t worried about the side effects, he might have tried knocking himself out with some cold medicine. But he knew how loopy he got whenever he took it when he actually was sick. Right now being even more loopy than he already was was the last thing that he needed. Beyond that, he didn’t want to be so knocked out that he couldn’t wake up in the morning. He had no idea what time would be too early for going back to see Tadashi, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep himself away for long after the sun came up, so getting some sleep in before then was very important.

The fanboy finds himself hugging his pillow to his chest as he pictures the fairy he’d met earlier that night, a grin crossing his face in spite of himself. Tadashi was… amazing. It was pretty much the only word that could describe him. The fanboy knew that it was ridiculous to have a crush on someone he’d only just met, and he felt a bit shallow because he knew that the crush was based mostly on aesthetic attraction and the fact that Tadashi was a mythical being (something which was pretty much any nerd’s dream come true). But he was determined to try to make things deeper than that--to actually get know Tadashi and see if maybe they could become friends before trying to take it to the next step.

Eventually the adrenaline coursing through Fred’s veins starts to ebb away, and slowly but surely he finds his eyelids growing heavier until finally they slide shut. His last thoughts before falling asleep were of the face of the beautiful fairy boy he’d met in the park, and his dreams were filled with much the same.

When Fred finally wakes up the next morning, it’s hard to convince himself that last night hadn’t all just been a dream. In the light of day, his memories of meeting a fairy seemed like the product of an exhaustion caused by his over exuberance at the game. The very idea that he’d actually met a real fae seemed completely impossible. And yet…

The image of Tadashi’s face was as clear in his mind as he was looking at him at that very moment. And the fanboy doubted that even his vivid imagination could have dreamed up something so realistic.. 

Heart racing eagerly in his chest, Fred sits up to check the clock on his bedside table. He could only assume by the fact that the sun was up that it was late enough to get up and head back to the park to see if his adventure from last night had been real or not, but it didn’t hurt to make sure. His mood plummets when he finds that it was already 1 pm--how had he managed to sleep in that late? He must have been more exhausted from the game than he’d thought, which explained why he’d passed out for so long. 

As he gets out of bed and starts stumbling around getting ready for the day, his brain decides that maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Hopefully his sleeping in had given Tadashi a chance to rest up from his injury (gosh, he really hoped that it wasn’t anything serious.) All the same, Fred makes it through his morning routine in record time (in spite of the fact that he spent a little more time on his wardrobe choices than he usually would have), and, as dressed and as groomed as he was going to get, the fanboy feels ready to head to the park to see how his newfound friend was doing. 

He was just heading towards the door to start his journey when a thought pops into his head that causes him to stop and frown thoughtfully. Wasn’t there some sort of tradition about bringing gifts to fairies if you wanted to curry favor with them? Of course presents were always a good way to make a favorable impression on just about anyone, but he distinctly remembers reading stories about leaving gifts out for fairies, and, as he was visiting the home of a family of fairies for the first time, it seemed like a good idea not to show up empty handed. What were those things you were supposed to leave out for fairies again? He vaguely remembered something about milk and honey, but that didn’t seem quite right for the fairies that he’d met last night. Maybe they would like milk and honey--he’d have to ask--but he’d feel extremely stupid if he showed up with either item and it turned out the legends were wrong and the fairies thought he was strange for showing up with basic food items. What to bring them, then?

After a few minutes of pondering the question, finally an idea pops into his head and, grinning, he exits his room and makes his way up the stairs to the upper level of the house and from there up into the attic.

It was clear from the thick layer of dust covering everything that no one had been up here in awhile, but at least it was well organized so it didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for. He smiles as he approaches the familiar sky blue dollhouse that had once been his mother’s and had been passed on to him once he’d been old enough to know how to properly handle the tiny treasures it contained (many of the items inside were antiques that his grandfather had collected from all over the world and needed to be treated with great care.) 

Over dinner a few years ago Fred’s mother had admitted to him that, when she’d been unable to have any children after him, she’d been rather sad thinking about how the dollhouse wouldn’t have another little girl to love it and spend hours playing in it like she had when she’d been young. But, as a child, Fred hadn’t cared at all about the fact that most people thought dollhouses were “meant for girls”--he’d been absolutely fascinated with the tiny rooms where he could play out any number of fantastical situations created by his vivid imagination, and his mother had been quite pleased that her son loved it as much as she had.

As Fred had grown older, the dollhouse, like many things from his childhood, had fallen by the wayside, and eventually it had been carefully tucked away into the attic until someday when another child would bring it back to life with their own imaginings. As the fanboy looks the toy house over with fondness, he can’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia, and just a hint of yearning for the future when maybe he’d get to see a little one of his own playing with the house. But right now wasn’t the time for that, and he shakes his head to clear away the thoughts. He’d come up here in hopes of finding a fairy sized gift in order to try to make a good impression on Tadashi’s family, and that’s what he needed to focus on. 

He didn’t want to bring anything too fancy, and he couldn’t take something from the dollhouse that his own mother would miss if she ever came up here for a visit. He felt a bit bad about taking anything from it at all, but technically the house was his so it wasn’t exactly stealing, and, furthermore, he was doing this for something he considered to be a very important cause.

What he finally settles on for bringing as a gift was a small porcelain vase that he remembered his mother telling him as a child had come from Japan. It was patterned in blue and white, and there was a painted peacock that curled all the way around it. Fred had always loved it growing up, and it seemed like something a fairy could actually use, whether for holding flowers or storing other things. Beautiful but practical--it was a winning combination. 

The matter of the gift settled, Fred carefully slips the vase into a lower pocket on his cargo shorts (he felt it would be pretty safe there where he wouldn’t accidentally sit on it) and then makes his way back downstairs, his heart fluttering in his chest as if it had suddenly grown fairy wings of its own at the idea of finally getting to see Tadashi again. He had no idea how things would go at the park, but all he could do was try to put his best foot forward and hope for the best.

Like the day before, the fanboy decides not to ask Heathcliff drive him to his destination. Not only was the park a short enough distance away that he could easily walk to it by himself, he didn’t know how to explain to the manservant that he wanted to go to the park to visit a family of fairies. Not that it was likely Heathcliff would have asked the reason for his visit--usually the butler just went about his duties while using as few words as possible. Still, Fred liked the idea of having some anonymity today and drawing as little attention as possible to what might be considered by many of the house staff as rather eccentric behavior seemed ideal. After all, if no one knew where he was going or when he left, no one would be waiting for him to come home, so he could spend as much (or as little, depending on how things went) time as he wanted to visiting the fairies without raising any suspicions.

He did make a quick detour by the kitchen on his way out the door to grab a sandwich (he hadn’t eaten since last night, after all), but soon he found himself walking down the street and doing his best not to break out into a full on run. He didn’t want to look crazy or accidentally knock an innocent passerby over, so he was trying to avoid going too fast in spite of his excitement. Still, his feet seemed to have a mind of their own and so in trying to restrain them he found himself doing an awkward sort of skip-hop as he made his way down the sidewalk. 

It took what felt like an eternity to reach his destination, but once the park finally came into view he felt his eagerness growing as he realizes just how close he was. In only a few minutes he’d finally get to see Tadashi again! 

Just as he was about to step into the forest, though, a horrible realization dawns on him. What if he wasn’t able to find the fairies’ house again? After all, it had been very dark last night, and he hadn’t really been able to see where he was going. Tadashi had been the one doing most of the navigating. How was he supposed to even know which direction to head in? Beyond that, Fred has the sudden revelation that maybe the fairy’s house was enchanted so that humans couldn’t find it on their own. That might explain why the fairies hadn’t been discovered yet--after all, there were people exploring these woods all the time, and even though the crate was a pretty good disguise at some point someone probably would have tried to investigate it or cart it away as junk. It made sense that the little family would need to protect themselves, especially after Fred had seen how other humans treated fairies last night. Still, it was dreadful thinking that he might never be able to see Tadashi again because of that reason…

Before the feelings of dread can completely overwhelm him, the fanboy forces the negative thoughts out of his head. He had to think positive! Even if it took all day and even all night, he was going to comb every part of these woods until he found the house again. 

His logical side suggested starting at one end of the woods, canvassing it in small chunks until he either located the fairies’ home or reached the other side. But deep down in his gut he had a different, stronger feeling that, if he just started walking, he would find what he was looking for. Fred had always been a stronger believer in intuition than logic, and so, after a moment of indecision, he decides to go with his gut and begins making his way through the forest, following the feelings that were guiding him like a compass, telling him which direction to head and where to turn. The farther he walks, the stronger the feelings grow, until, finally, he ends up in a clearing where, to his great delight, he finds the crate hiding beneath the shade of a large cherry blossom tree. 

It’s all Fred can do not to sprint the final stretch of his journey, but, before he can, common sense kicks in and he quickly realizes that the sound of a human running near their home would only serve to unsettle the fairies. So, difficult as it was, he forces himself to walk as softly as he can through the tall grass, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. It was with great relief that he finally reaches the house, and he gently starts to lower himself to the ground in front of it, only to suddenly remember the tiny vase in his pocket. Not wanting to risk it getting smashed by accident, he carefully pulls it out and sets it down next to the tiny door before kneeling the rest of the way down. 

It strikes him as he considers the tiny door that he has no idea how he was supposed to announce his presence to the occupants of the house. There didn’t appear to be a doorbell of any kind (not even an old fashioned bell pull) so knocking seemed like the next best option. But how was he supposed to knock on a door that small? Did fairies even have custom of knocking on doors? If they didn’t and he attempted to knock, would they think that he was trying to break the door down? That wasn’t the kind of first (or was it second?) impression that he wanted to make on them. 

Not knowing what else to do to alert them of his presence, the fanboy finally calls out softly, “Hello?”

When he doesn’t receive an immediate response, he continues, “Um, hey, I don’t know if you guys can hear me, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m here? And I know Tadashi said I could come back, but if this is a bad time for you I totally get it! I just--I could really use an answer one way or the other so I know if I should wait or if you guys want me to go away? So I guess I’ll just sit here for a few minutes in case you’re kinda busy and can’t get to the door. If you don’t answer, I’ll take it as you guys wanting me to leave and I’ll try coming back later! But, um… An answer would be nice. Just so I can know for sure what you want me to do…”

Fred trails off, folding his hands awkwardly in his lap as he settles in to wait. He had no idea if he was actually going to get a response or not. He thought that he could hear soft noises coming from inside of the house but they were too quiet for him to be able to tell if he was actually hearing them or just imagining them. 

Five incredibly long minutes later, the fanboy was just about to give up and leave, thinking that the fairies were making their thoughts on him visiting their home abundantly clear by just ignoring him, when suddenly the tiny door creaks open. Fred’s heart leaps up into his throat, anticipating finally getting to see Tadashi again. But instead of Tadashi, the fairy who came out of the house was the other fairy that he’d seen the night before, the one with the dandelion fluff hair. 

“Oh, um, hey!” Fred greets the boy who he was pretty sure he remembered Tadashi calling Hiro, trying to sound as friendly as possible in spite of the fact that the fae was practically scowling up at him, tiny arms crossed over his equally tiny chest. It might have been adorable if the fanboy wasn’t so worried that he was about to be sent away for good.

“Aunt Cass says you can come in,” the boy finally says after almost a full minute of silence, not looking any too happy about what he was saying. “I don’t know why she trusts you, but I guess Tadashi’s somehow convinced her that you’re not as evil as every other human we’ve ever encountered so she’s making an exception for you.”

“I, uh… Thanks, I think?” Fred answers weakly before Hiro’s first words sink in. “Wait, come in?” He looks down at the crate doubtfully. “I-I don’t think I’m going to fit…” He was starting to wonder if all fairies had a hard time understanding size differences considering Tadashi had already made that comment last night about him seeing the inside of the house. 

“Hold out your hand,” Hiro snaps, rolling his eyes like Fred had just said something completely idiotic. 

“My hand?” Fred repeats in confusion. 

“Yes, your hand.” Hiro was now tapping his foot impatiently on the ground as if this whole process was taking much longer than it should be and the blame for that lay completely on the fanboy’s shoulders. 

“A-All right,” Fred agrees, feeling a bit stupid as he finally holds his hand out to the fairy but not daring to argue with him at this point. Hiro’s fingers felt featherlight but surprisingly firm as they wrap around the tip of his index finger, and the fanboy was wondering if this was some sort of customary greeting, like shaking hands (only the fairy was having to improvise because of the size difference), when suddenly he feels a tingling rush of what could only be described as magic racing through his body, starting from where Hiro’s hand was touching his finger and then quickly spreading through the rest of him. Before he could even try to figure out what was happening, he had the sensation of being pressed and compacted down, like one of those toy lightsabers he’d used to play with as a kid that could be collapsed down in on itself, and he closes his eyes to try to stave off the intense feeling of dizziness that came with it. 

Finally everything seems to settle again, and Fred tentatively opens his eyes to try to see if the world had finally stopped spinning around him. What he finds, through, almost sends his head reeling again, but this time for a very different reason. 

“Holy shit…” he breathes as he stares around at his surroundings with a mixture of trepidation and awe. Either the rest of the world had gotten a lot bigger, or he had just gotten a lot smaller. Was that even possible? Had Hiro somehow shrunk him? 

“Come on. If you actually want to see Tadashi, don’t just stand out here looking like a bullfrog with your mouth open.” 

Hiro’s words are enough to bring Fred back to the present, and he finds himself nodding silently in response, still too shocked to be able to form a coherent sentence. Now that he could get a good look at Hiro, he realized that the boy was actually more of a teenager, in spite of what his frame (petite even for a fairy) suggested. The teen’s wings were dark with white and red splotches on the front, but as he turns to head back into the house the back of his wings were revealed to be mostly royal blue with black and white around the edges. Fred had to wonder if fairy wings were patterned after actual types of butterflies or if they just magically came with their own designs. It was a question that he’d have to ask later--for now, he needed to focus on keeping up with Hiro.

The fanboy had had no idea what the inside of the crate would look like (hadn’t even really anticipated on actually getting to see what it looked like), but what he found was surprisingly pleasant and homey. The walls were stained a soft green, and the floor of the crate was filled with fairy sized pieces of furniture, all of them looking hand made from either pieces of nature or discarded human items, like the little kitchen table that had been cobbled together from two spools of thread with a playing card over it and the four chairs woven together from twigs and grass that sat around it. There was also an upper floor to the crate, a sort of loft where a plank of wood had been fastened to the wall, and from down here it appeared to be a bedroom of some sort. For a moment Fred was stumped trying to figure out how anyone could get up there with no ladder or other sort of climbing instrument present. But then the truth dawns on him and he feels foolish for even wondering in the first place--of course. Fairies had wings, they could just fly up there. 

He was just trying to figure out what might be behind the curtain made of a pink handkerchief in the back corner of the house (another bedroom, perhaps?) when he hears a familiar voice calling out, “Fred!” 

“Tadashi?” Fred glances around the room, trying to find the source, and grins when he finally spots the fairy lying on what appeared to be a couch made of spongy moss, the fae’s legs and part of his upper body covered in a blanket made of stitched together cherry blossom petals. 

“Hey!” Tadashi grins and waves to the fanboy as he sits up on the couch, adding a bit shyly as he reaches him, “I was worried you weren’t actually going to come...”

“Of course I came! I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Fred answers, grinning back, although he couldn’t help but feel a bit worried by the fact that Tadashi wasn’t actually getting up. Was the fairy so injured that he couldn’t even stand? Trying to be tactful, he asks softly, “Are you okay? I know you were hurt pretty bad last night--did it turn out to be something really serious?” 

“No, I’m fine,” Tadashi reassures him, looking almost flattered by the other’s concern for his well being. “I’m a bit bruised up--my legs got the worst of it since my wings didn’t cover them as well as they did my upper body--and Aunt Cass thinks that one of my wings is sprained, but she used all her best healing spells on me last night, and as long as I don’t move around too much for a couple days I should be back to normal in no time.”

“That’s great!” Fred was extremely relieved to hear this. “I’m so glad that those kids didn’t hurt you worse than they did.”

“Me too,” Tadashi agrees, although there was something of a strained look underneath his smile.

“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” Fred asks, wondering if he’d said something to offend the fairy. 

“No, no, you didn’t!” Tadashi answers quickly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you! It’s just…” The fairy lets out a long sigh and grows silent for a minute before continuing so quietly that that other man almost can’t hear him, “After what happened last night... Aunt Cass thinks that it isn’t safe for us to live here anymore...”

“W-What does that mean?” Fred asks slowly, already having a pretty good idea but desperately hoping that he was wrong. It made perfect sense that the fairies would feel unsafe given everything that had happened last night, but they couldn’t really be--

“We’re moving,” Tadashi answers miserably, confirming his worst fears. “As soon as my wings are well enough to fly again. Aunt Cass has already started packing everything up…”

“Oh my gosh…” Fred breathes. No, this couldn’t be happening! They couldn’t be leaving when he’d just found them! 

“W-Where are you guys moving to?” the fanboy asks, grasping at straws for any bit of hope--maybe it wouldn’t be too far away and he could still visit them!

“I have no idea.” Tadashi shrugs helplessly. “But she says that she wants it to be somewhere as far away from humans as possible so that nothing like this ever happens again…”

Fred’s heart plummets. Well, so much for optimism. 

“Isn’t there somewhere safer in the city that you guys could live?” he asks desperately. “Somewhere not so far away as out in the middle of nowhere?” 

“Not unless you know of a forest where it’s guaranteed no other humans will come,” Tadashi answers, looking completely defeated. 

“I… I don’t…” Fred admits, wondering if it was idiotic to feel like he was going to start crying over never getting to see someone that he’d only just barely met ever again. But what could he do? It wasn’t like he had a private forest that he could offer them where they’d never be disturbed by any harmful humans…

Wait. Wait just a second. Maybe he did. Not a forest, exactly, but it might be close enough to work!

“I think I might know a place!” he cries, startling Tadashi out of his dismal contemplation of the imminent move.

“Y-You do?” The fairy looks up at him in disbelief. “How--?”

“My family has a really big walled in garden!” Fred explains eagerly, his words starting to stumble over each other in his excitement. “Like, a really freaking huge garden! There’s almost never anyone there except for the gardener, and if I asked him to stay away from a specific corner of the garden, he’d do it, no questions asked! If we could move you guys into a back corner away from the house, even on the rare occasion that my parents actually use it for their parties and stuff no one would bother you! It would be perfect--you guys could live there and be totally safe, and it would still be kind of like a forest! And the best part is that you guys wouldn’t have to move that far, so you’d still be somewhere familiar, and you wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time traveling around trying to find someplace new!” 

_ And you’d be right in my backyard so we could see each other whenever we want _ ! he adds mentally.

“I… That actually could work,” Tadashi agrees slowly after thinking it over for a moment, his eyes growing wide and excitement starting to show in them. “I mean, we’d have to clear it with Aunt Cass, of course. But she might just be willing to go for it, especially if I made the argument that this way I wouldn’t have to stop going to my classes at SFIT!”

“Your--what?” Fred blinks at him in surprise. Wait, Tadashi was a student at SFIT? How was that even possible? Fred would have noticed him if he’d seen him around campus--even though the fairy could grow to the size of a human, he’d stick out like a sore thumb with those wings.

“O-Oh…” Tadashi ducks his head, looking embarrassed. “I guess I should explain that… Please don’t think it’s weird?”

“Never,” Fred promises, itching with curiosity to find out what he meant. 

“I-I know it’s kind of stupid, but I’ve always been fascinated by the technology in your world,” Tadashi admits quietly. “Aunt Cass taught me and Hiro the basics here at home, like reading and writing and math. But I always wanted to know more than that, and a couple of years ago I discovered one of your human universities. I kind of accidentally flew into one of the classrooms while exploring, but after just sitting through one class out of curiosity I was completely hooked. I realized that there was so much that I could learn from the teachers there, and I found that if I just sat on the windowsill and listened then no one even knew I was there. Aunt Cass wasn’t too happy about it at first, but she finally came to accept it when she saw how happy it made me. I can’t help it--it’s fascinating learning about how you humans use your technology to help you function in the world without any magic to help you. It’s almost like a form of magic all its own!” 

“Wow…” Fred breathes. “So, you, like, sneak into college classes to learn for fun?”

“Yes?” Tadashi answers hesitantly, looking a bit worried by the other man’s tone. “Is that weird to you?”

“What? No, of course not!” Fred cries, hurrying to reassure him. “I think it’s amazing that you’re so dedicated to learning that you’re doing it because you want to, not because you have to!”

“Really?” Tadashi offers him a small, hopeful smile.

“Definitely!” Fred answers firmly. He was almost tempted to tell Tadashi that he actually had some connections at SFIT thanks to being the mascot who were as into technology as he was and to offer to introduce them. But sadly he has to quickly squelch the idea. Maybe someday he could make that offer, but for right now if he mentioned even the idea of letting other humans in on the secret that fairies existed he might end up overstepping his bounds and make Tadashi decide to stop trusting him completely. So, at least for the moment, he’d just focus on trying to make sure that the fairies didn’t actually move away and maybe someday work up to offering to introducing Tadashi to his connections. 

And speaking of people he needed to talk to in order to keep said move from happening...

“Oh, Aunt Cass!” Tadashi suddenly looks over the back of the couch, and Fred follows his gaze to see a fairy coming out from behind the curtain that he’d noticed on his way in. She was almost as petite as Hiro, with nut brown hair and the orange and black wings of a monarch butterfly, and the fanboy swallows a bit thickly as he realizes who she is--Tadashi’s guardian _ and _ the person he has to convince if he’s ever going to have any sort of future with the fairy. As she starts to make her way over, the fanboy can only hope that maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able to actually convince her to go along with his plan. 


	3. Chapter 3

“Well, hello there!” If Fred could feel comforted by one thing, it was the fact that the woman approaching him was smiling in a manner that appeared to be genuine. “You must be Fred!”

“Y-Yes ma’am,” the fanboy agrees, doing his best to be as polite as possible and hoping to make a good first impression. What he didn’t expect was for the fairy to pull him into a tight bear hug as soon as he was in reaching distance. 

“Oh my goodness, I’m so glad that I’m finally getting to meet you so I can thank you for getting my baby home safely last night!” she cries.

“Y-You’re welcome?” Fred manages to wheeze out, feeling like she was squeezing the very life out of him.

“I’m sorry!” Aunt Cass apologizes when she finally lets him go and sees the state he was in. “I guess I got a little over excited…”

“‘S’okay,” Fred answers, doing his best to not keel over.

“I’m just so grateful to you for protecting my Tadashi from those horrible boys,” she says, gently squeezing her nephew’s shoulder, before adding with an almost mischievous grin, “And I must admit, I was curious to meet you after the way he kept going on about you last night. First time I’ve heard him mooning around about a boy before--or anyone, for that matter…”

“AUNT CASS!” Tadashi’s cheeks were bright red, and Fred has to duck his head to hide the grin that was quickly forming on his face. Tadashi had talked about him to his aunt? Hopefully that was a good sign!

“All right, all right, I won’t embarrass you anymore!” Aunt Cass laughs, not looking at all repentant as she winks at her nephew.

“Thank you…” Tadashi mumbles before coughing and quickly adding in a “let’s change the subject” tone, “Fred actually has something really important he wants to talk to you about!”

“Really?” Aunt Cass looks curiously over at Fred, her wings fluttering. 

“Yes, I do!” Fred agrees--as much as he’d like to find out what exactly Tadashi had been saying about him, he knew from the desperate look on the fairy’s face that now wasn’t the time for that. Besides, he had more important things to take care of right now, like making sure that Tadashi didn’t have to leave before he could get to know him better and find out if there really was a spark there.

“So, I heard you guys are talking about moving?” the fanboy says, leaving it a question in case by some miracle Tadashi had heard wrong.

“Yes, yes we are,” Aunt Cass answers with a quiet sigh, her wings sagging. “I’m sorry, dear, I know you and Tadashi only just met, but it’s not safe here anymore and I can’t put my family at risk, even for the sake of a new friendship. If there was anything I could do to keep this from happening, I would…”

“Maybe there isn’t anything you can do--but there is something I can do!” Fred tells her. 

“Really?” Aunt Cass blinks in surprise. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“I think I know a place you guys can stay where you’ll be totally safe!” Fred answers before eagerly relaying the information that he’d just told Tadashi before she’d joined them. 

“It--does sound ideal,” Aunt Cass says slowly once he’s done, seeming to be thinking his words over carefully. “If it’s anything like you say it is, I certainly wouldn’t mind giving it a try.”

“You wouldn’t?” Fred feels his heart racing--was it actually going to work out?

“But before I agree to anything, I would like to take a look at the garden for myself, just to make sure that it is a suitable place for us to make a new home,” Aunt Cass adds before his high hopes can run away with him. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Fred dear. It’s just that a human’s perspective on what would make a good home for a fairy and a fairy’s perspective can sometimes be very different.”

“Oh, of course!” Fred nods in agreement. “I definitely wouldn’t expect you guys to take my word for it! I’d be more than happy to show you guys around so you can see it for yourselves! When would you want to come check it out?”

“Well, I suppose that there's no time like the present,” Aunt Cass answers with a smile. “Would now be a good time for us to come over?”

“Hell yeah! I-I mean, yes ma’am!” Fred cringes, hoping that he hadn’t just ruined his chances by cursing in front of her. 

Fortunately Aunt Cass doesn’t comment on it if she notices, just turning towards the loft and calling, “Hiro? Hiro, please come down here! We’re going to look at a potential new home and I’d like you to come with to give your input on it!” 

“I don’t wanna go,” a rather petulant voice answers from above them.

“What? Why not?” Aunt Cass asks, frowning in confusion.

“I just don’t.” 

“Hiro--”

“Otouto.” Tadashi, who was also frowning but appeared to have a better idea of what was going on, carefully raises himself to his feet from the couch, supporting himself against it as he calls up to his younger sibling, “If you don’t come with us, then it’s your own fault if I get to pick out the best view and you get stuck with whatever’s left over.”

“Hey!” Hiro’s head pokes over the edge of the loft, and he was scowling. “Not fair!”

“It’s fair if I warned you and you still chose not to come,” Tadashi answers with a shrug.

“...Fine,” Hiro grumbles, his arms crossed over his chest as he flutters down to the ground. “Whatever. Let’s just go see this stupid garden already.”

“Thank you for finally deciding to join us,” Tadashi answers dryly. 

Fred had no idea if this type of tension was normal between the brothers, and he had a guilty feeling that he might be the cause of it. Still, he couldn’t think of a thing to say that wouldn’t only serve to exacerbate the situation and so finally he just weakly asks, “Are you guys ready to go?”

“We are,” Tadashi agrees firmly before Hiro can respond.

“Great! I guess if one of you can make me bigger again, we can get heading out right now!” Fred tells him, adding wryly, “I don’t exactly have the benefit of being able to fly and walking would take a really long time for me…”

“I actually know how that feels right now,” Tadashi answers, gesturing to his injured wings. 

“Oh, right… Sorry,” Fred tells him, wincing at his own lack of tact. “Would it help if I carried you since you can’t fly?”

“Sure!” Tadashi beams at him. “I wouldn’t mind that at all. I just need some help getting to the door since I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to go back to your normal size in here.”

“I completely concur,” Fred agrees, reaching over to support Tadashi as he walks (in spite of his protestations, it was clear from the grimace on his face that the bruises from having his legs stabbed multiple times with a stick last night were still painful.) Aunt Cass tries to join in, but Tadashi waves her off, and after about a minute of slow, careful work, the pair had crossed the floor of the makeshift house to the door leading to the outside world, Hiro trailing silently and sullenly behind them.

As Fred steps outside the house and into the sunshine (which was a bit blinding after being inside the dim interior of the crate), he finds himself knocking into something cold and hard. It takes him a moment to realize it was the vase that he’d left next to the door--he’d all but forgotten about it in the whirl of events. 

“Oh my, what is that?” Aunt Cass asks, also noticing the vase and looking down at it with curiosity. 

“It’s a gift!” Fred explains, hoping that he was following whatever protocol there was for giving presents to fae and not about to get himself cursed (he doubted it with how nice Aunt Cass had seemed so far, but one could never tell when dealing with mythical creatures.) “I thought it would be nice to bring something for you since this was my first time officially visiting your home?” 

“Well aren’t you just the sweetest!” Aunt Cass beams at him, clearly not offended in the slightest--if anything, she seemed quite the opposite. “I’ll have to find just the right place to put it! Thank you, Fred!”

“You’re welcome.” Fred finds himself flushing slightly at her rather effusive reaction, and from the grin on Tadashi’s face he could tell that he’d made a favorable impression on the family. Well, except for maybe Hiro, who was still scowling deeply. The fanboy had a feeling that it was going to take a lot more than a simple gift to win the younger fairy over. Still, while he didn’t know what exactly Hiro’s problem with him was, he was determined that he was going to do whatever it took to get on his good side. 

As Aunt Cass fusses about with the vase, fluttering inside to find a safe home for it, Fred helps Tadashi get settled against the wall of the house so that he can take some of the weight off of his injured legs while the fanboy was returning to his normal size.

“Hiro, can you help Fred?” Tadashi asks once he’s managed to get himself into a stable position--he looked comfortable enough, but Fred couldn’t help but worry about him all the same, even though he probably was just overreacting like Marie did whenever he was sick or injured. 

“Why do I have to do it?” Hiro complains, still obviously in a very foul temper.

“Because Aunt Cass is busy, and I’d do it myself but I’m not in the best position to do it right now,” Tadashi answers, giving him a disapproving look. 

“Fine…” Hiro all but growls, stalking over to Fred and grabbing the man’s hand so tightly that the fanboy almost lets out a yelp of pain but just manages to bite it back, feeling that if Tadashi knew what the younger fairy was doing an argument might erupt, and the last thing he wanted was to cause even more trouble between the two siblings than he’d already caused. 

The change from fairy size back to human size wasn’t much more pleasant than the first change, but since Fred was at least prepared for it this time it wasn’t quite so jarring. He was quite relieved when the world stopped spinning again, though, and as soon as he’s back to normal he carefully offers his cupped hands to Tadashi, who gratefully sinks down into them. 

“You doing okay?” Fred asks, hoping that the fairy hadn’t worn himself out too much between making his way to the door and then supporting himself, even for the short period of time he’d had to. 

“I’m fine,” Tadashi reassures him, waving aside his concerns. “I’m not a fragile princess, you know--I can take care of myself.”

“I know,” Fred hurries to reassure him. “I just want to make sure that you don’t injure yourself further while you’re still on the mend.”

“And I appreciate that.” Tadashi offers him a small, grateful smile. 

“Yeah.” Fred grins down at him, his heart fluttering and feeling like he was falling just that much deeper for him. 

“All right, I think we’re ready to go!” Aunt Cass announces, breaking the moment as she exits the little house. 

“Great!” Fred quickly answers, hoping that the blush he could feel blooming on his cheeks wasn’t too obvious. “Are you guys going to be okay following me, or do you want a ride too?”

“I think I’ll be fine flying, dear,” Aunt Cass reassures him. 

“You don’t think you’ll have any trouble with other humans spotting you, do you?” Fred asks, suddenly realizing a potential problem and not wanting a repeat of last night’s debacle. 

“It’s sweet of you to be concerned, but we’ll be fine,” Aunt Cass answers with a smile. “Fairies have been around long enough to have learned how to protect ourselves against most common dangers. Usually most humans who see us flying by just think we’re butterflies, and we have protective magic that deters them from trying to take a closer look.”

“It makes their eyes sting if they do--usually they just think it’s the sun being too bright,” Tadashi explains as Aunt Cass takes to the air (followed rather begrudgingly by Hiro) and Fred starts following after them towards the edge of the forest. “The only reason those boys managed to catch me last night was because I didn’t have my guard up.”

“So is the reason my eyes aren’t hurting right now is because you’re letting me see you?” Fred guesses. 

“Right!” Tadashi agrees, seeming pleased by the fact that Fred was catching on so quickly. 

“Cool!” Fred couldn’t help but feel honored by the fact that Tadashi seemed to trust him so much. 

Tadashi grins up at him before settling more comfortably in Fred’s hands, and the fanboy feels tiny thrills running up into his arms, although he does his best not to let on just how much the fairy’s actions were affecting him.

It didn’t take long for the little group to reach Fred’s house once they’d gotten out of the forest. Fred mostly had to stop talking to Tadashi once they were out in the open--he’d look crazy if people thought he was talking to a butterfly--but it wasn’t an unpleasant walk all the same. At first the fanboy had worried that the flying fairies would have a hard time keeping up with him since they were so small, but it actually turned out that he was the one having to work hard to stay with the others even though he was the one who was supposed to be leading. 

Once at the house, it was just a short walk through the house from the servants’ entrance (not that Fred’s family made any of the servants actually use it, but it was handy for sneaking in when you wanted to avoid notice) to the door that led into the back garden.

“Wow…” Tadashi gasps softly as he takes in the brightly colored foliage around them (all neatly trimmed to immaculate perfection) and the winding walkways that led off into different parts of the garden.

“You like it?” Fred asks--he’d never spent a lot of time here, preferring to spend his time pursuing interests that kept him mostly indoors, but he had to admit this place always managed to take his breath away.

“It’s gorgeous!” Aunt Cass cries as Tadashi nods in agreement, and even Hiro seemed begrudgingly impressed. 

“Come on, then--let me show you the spot I’m thinking of that might be a good place for you guys!” Fred tells them, feeling his own excitement growing--this plan just might be working after all!

“Lead the way,” Tadashi answers on behalf of his aunt, who seemed far too transfixed by her surroundings at the moment to answer properly. 

“Right!” Fred agrees, starting off down the walkway. 

The place that he had in mind wasn’t quite as impressive as the front part of the garden. To be frank, it was a little bit neglected and overgrown. But it had its own wild sort of beauty and had the added benefit that most visitors to the garden didn’t spend too much time there, so it seemed like the most practical place for a family of fairies to be able to remain hidden. 

Given how impressed Aunt Cass had been by the orderly, well manicured appearance of what she’d seen of the garden, Fred was a bit worried as he opened the ivy colored gate that led into the walled off back corner that she might be disappointed with the proposed spot for her new home--it looked like no one had cleaned up in here for some time, and it was in a worse state than the fanboy had remembered.

“What do you think?” he asks nervously. “I know it’s a bit of a fixer-upper but maybe you guys could make it look like a home?”

“It does look like it needs some work,” Aunt Cass agrees, a thoughtful look on her face before smiling and continuing, “But it’s nothing we can’t fix. It might actually be a fun project, bringing it back to life. It just needs a little love and care and it’ll be the prettiest garden in all of San Fransokyo!”

“So you want to move in?” Fred breathes, barely allowing himself to hope. 

“I’m all for it!” Aunt Cass answers, beaming. “But it’s not just up to me. Boys, what do you think?”

“I love it!” Tadashi answers, smiling up at Fred in a way that made the fanboy’s heart beat even faster. 

“Hiro?” Aunt Cass turns to the younger boy. 

Hiro was still scowling, but after a moment of silence he finally answers in a defeated sounding way, “I guess it could be worse…” 

“Yes!” Fred would have been more concerned by Hiro’s lack of enthusiasm if he hadn’t just received what was possibly the best news of his life, and Tadashi seemed just as thrilled as he was. 

“I think we could make a nice house right here,” Aunt Cass says as she starts fluttering around the garden, already starting to plan the renovations for their new home. She lands on the branches of a large sakura tree, and the fanboy follows her over so that Tadashi can get a closer look too. 

“I could always help with moving your old house here,” Fred offers, wanting to be as helpful as possible. “Or, if you guys want a new place, I can totally help with that too! I know there are places that make model houses that would be just about the right size--heck, they make furniture too, if you guys want that!”

“No, but thank you dear,” Aunt Cass says with a warm smile. “We appreciate the offer, but fairies prefer--well, we  _ need _ to stay as close to nature as possible. Nature is the force from which we draw magic and even life, so a human made house might actually be harmful to us.”

“All right, so the house is out!” Fred agrees before asking curiously, “But what about your crate? Isn’t that human made too?”

“It is, but it’s something that was thrown out by humans, so we were reusing something that was bound to become a part of nature again anyways, and we incorporated enough nature into it that it’s allowable,” Aunt Cass explains.   
“Okay, I think I’ve got it,” Fred says, nodding slowly--he didn’t fully understand it, but it was probably best not to overthink it.

“But a new crate wouldn’t be such a bad thing,” Aunt Cass adds thoughtfully.

“Our old one was getting pretty drafty in the winter,” Tadashi agrees. “We kept having to shove mud in the cracks to keep out the cold, and even with warming magic it still got freezing when the snow started falling.”

“I can definitely help with that!” Fred tells them eagerly, glad to be able to finally have a way he could offer assistance. “Marie--that’s the cook--has crates from the food that gets sent here! She usually recycles them or reuses them, but I’m sure she wouldn’t miss one if you guys wanted to pick one out!”

“Perfect!” Aunt Cass beams. “I guess it’s all settled, then, unless either of you boys have any objections?” She looks over at her two nephews.

“None at all!” Tadashi answers, grinning up at Fred.    
“I… Guess not,” Hiro says after a minute of silence, sounding a bit begrudging but not seeming to be able to find a good enough reason to say no.

“Wonderful!” Aunt Cass claps her hands together. “I guess all we have to do is pick out our new crate, finish packing, and then we can start moving in!”

“Great!” Fred cheers, almost not able to believe this was actually happening. Tadashi and his family were actually moving here! How lucky could he get? 

“Do you guys want some help packing? If you shrink me down again, I’d be more than happy to help with that,” he offers. 

“How about you and Tadashi start looking for the new crate and then when you’re done with that you can come help us pack?” Aunt Cass offers. 

“I can definitely do that!” Fred tells her.

“Sounds fun,” Tadashi agrees, waving to his family from his perch in Fred’s hands. “We’ll see you back at the park soon. Fly safely!”

“You as well!” Aunt Cass answers, waving back before starting to head for the garden wall. 

Hiro hovers in the air for a moment, and for a second Fred sees a look of pure anxiety on the boy’s face that makes him think that maybe, just maybe, there was more to how Hiro was acting than just an ingrained hatred of humans that didn’t seem characteristic of the rest of his family. Still, finally the raven haired fairy follows after his aunt, but not without many furtive glances backwards as he flies farther and farther away. 

“I’m sorry about Hiro,” Tadashi says softly, startling the fanboy out of his thoughts.

“What? What do you mean by that?” Fred asks, doing his best to act like he hadn’t noticed how the younger fairy had been treating him--he didn’t want to cause any more division between the brothers than he feared he’d already created. 

“It’s nothing personal against you,” Tadashi continues, obviously seeing through Fred’s pretense. “He just hasn’t had many reasons to trust humans. Especially with what happened to our parents…” 

Fred instantly had about a million questions racing through his mind about what exactly had happened to the boys’ parents, but he manages to swallow them back just in time, realizing how rude it would be to press for information if Tadashi wasn’t offering it. Instead, he just shrugs nonchalantly in response, saying, “It’s cool. I’m not blaming him or anything. Actually I feel like I should be the one apologizing… I mean, I feel like I’m causing Hiro to be mad at you, and I don’t want to get between you and your little bro.”

“Hiro has to learn that it’s okay for me to have other people in my life outside of him and Aunt Cass,” Tadashi answers, shaking his head. “I know it’s not easy for him, but he’s got to learn that lesson sooner or later. It’s probably for the best not to keep pushing it out at this point. He’ll come around eventually when he realizes that just because I can have someone else in my life it doesn’t mean I’m going to love him any less. But I’ll definitely talk to him about his behavior, see what I can do to keep him from treating you so rudely when you’re not the one at fault here.”

Fred had to wonder if that might actually only serve to make things worse, but instead of voicing his concerns he asks, “Is there anything that I can do to maybe help things along? I mean, if there’s anything that you can think of that might make him like me better, or at least trust me a tiny bit…”

“Just be yourself and give it time,” Tadashi reassures him. “Hiro doesn’t respond well to bribes or feeling like he’s being pushed into something. He’ll come around eventually, but he’s got to do it in his own time.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Fred agrees. He wished there was an easier way to fix things, but he could tell that there wasn’t and so he’d just have to be patient, like Tadashi said. 

“C’mon.” The fairy gently pats his palm. “Let’s go take a look at those crates, huh? The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get back to the park to help with the move!”

“Right!” Fred grins down at him--there wasn’t much he could do about Hiro, but there was something he could do to help Hiro’s family, and maybe, just maybe, that would be a step in the right direction. 

Talking and laughing, the human and the fairy head off to where Marie kept the empty crates, and at least for a moment Fred was able to forget about his worries and just focus on how amazing it would be once the family of fairies was living here in the garden. Who knew? Maybe once Hiro was actually living here he’d be able to show him that he really wasn’t a bad guy and that he could trust him. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot that Fred had so he was going to dedicate all of his energy to making sure it worked.


	4. Chapter 4

It didn’t take long for Tadashi and Fred to find a suitable crate. There were quite a few to choose from--if anything, there were almost too many to choose from. Still, finally Tadashi selected one which had once been the home to cans of cat food.

“Must have been an order for Marie’s cat,” Fred says wryly as he carries the crate back to the corner garden, Tadashi perched on his shoulder so that he can use both hands. “Marie found him as a kitten out in the alleyway while she was taking out the trash one evening. He just looked so pitiful and small that she couldn’t resist bringing him in out of the cold, and Dad said he could live here to help keep down the mice population here. I don’t know how much mouse catching he actually does since he’s so spoiled, but we all love him so much that we can’t bear to part with him.” 

“That’s adorable,” Tadashi laughs before asking curiously, “Who did you say Marie was again?”

“Oh, she’s my family’s cook!” Fred explains. “But she’s a lot more than that, really--she’s a part of the family. She’s been here since before I was born, and she looks out for all of us. Sometimes I think she half raised me since my parents weren’t around that much...”

He could feel Tadashi’s tiny eyes on him, and he half dreaded having to answer the questions or deal with the unwanted sympathy that he’d had far too much of in his lifetime. To his great relief, though, Tadashi doesn’t say anything about his absentee parents, instead just saying simply, “Aunt Cass has always wanted a cat.”

“She what?” Fred asks, suddenly feeling the urge to laugh. 

“I know, it’s crazy,” Tadashi chuckles. “A fairy wanting one of their many natural predators as a pet. She’s always thought they were ‘cute’ for some reason, but even our magic can’t alter the size of an animal--for some reason it only works on humans, I guess because we have a similar biological makeup?--so she has to make do with a silkmoth.”

“A silkmoth?” Fred repeats curiously.

“Yep,” Tadashi answers. “She calls him Mochi. She raised him from the time he was a little silkworm. She likes having a furry companion around the house, and it benefits Mochi too--moths and butterflies and other insects that live around fairies have extended life spans because of our magic.”

“That’s so cool!” Fred cries before realizing being so loud was probably hurting Tadashi’s ears.

“Sorry,” he apologizes in a much softer voice.

“It’s okay,” Tadashi reassures him. “You’re still getting used to being around fairies, and I appreciate you’re making an effort.” 

“I’m doing my best…” Fred answers, feeling a hint of warmth in his cheeks that he dearly hoped Tadashi wasn’t registering. He was only too glad when he realized that they were back in the corner garden and he was able to focus on settling the crate into its new home.

“What do you think?” he asks once he has it positioned underneath the cherry blossom tree. “Is this good?” 

“It looks perfect!” Tadashi reassures him. 

“It does kind of stand out, though,” Fred observes, standing back to look at the crate and noticing how much the light wood stood out against the dark vegetation growing all around it. 

“Not for long,” Tadashi answers. “Once we’ve moved in, it won’t take long for plants to be attracted to our magic and start growing over it. It’s a blessing and a curse since we do have to trim the foliage regularly to keep our homes from being overrun.”

“Interesting,” Fred says, nodding his head thoughtfully before realizing that, now that his hands were free again, it might be a better idea to move Tadashi off of his shoulder since it wasn’t the steadiest perch in the world. He carefully lifts his cupped hands up to Tadashi and, seeming to understand intuitively what Fred was thinking, the fairy gently eases himself down into them, wincing a bit as he does so.

“You doing okay?” the fanboy asks, feeling a hint of concern.

“Fine,” Tadashi answers, giving him a slightly strained smile. “Just a little bit sore still.” Shaking himself, he adds in a more confident tone, “But I have time to rest once we’ve finished moving. For now, let’s get back to the others and help with the packing.”

“All right,” Fred says, not quite agreeing with Tadashi’s sentiments and feeling that the fairy was probably in need of a good rest after everything that had happened today, but, knowing that Aunt Cass would probably do a better job of making that point than he would, he doesn’t fight it. For now he just nods and starts heading for the door leading back into the house so that they could go back to the park. 

“Could you go a little slower?” 

“What?” Fred looks down at Tadashi in surprise, slowing his power walk through the house on his way to the front door.

“I asked--could you go a little slower?” Tadashi asks, his cheeks flushing. “It’s just--I’ve never really been in a human house before and I kind of want to take it all in.”

“Oh, sure!” Fred answers, relieved--he’d been worried that he’d been going to fast and accidentally been jarring him when the last thing the fairy needed was added bruises on top of his current injuries.

Tadashi takes his surrounding in silently, his gorgeous eyes that Fred loved so much wide with something akin to awe or astonishment. 

“I know it’s a bit much,” Fred admits after a minute, unsure as to what was going on inside the fairy’s head. “My parents aren’t exactly subtle…”

“No, it’s beautiful in here!” Tadashi answers quickly. “Sorry, I’ve just never seen anything like it before so it’s just taking me a little bit to process all of it!”

“I almost prefer your house,” Fred admits. “It feels a lot more like a home than this place ever has…”

“Hey--you’re always welcome in our home,” Tadashi tells him, reassuringly patting his hand.

“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Fred answers with a sheepish smile--how could someone he’d only just met the night before already have accepted him so completely into his family?

“You’re welcome.” Tadashi beams warmly back up at him.

“For the record, you’re always welcome here too!” Fred quickly adds. “I mean, I know we don’t have a lot of time right now, but maybe once you’re all moved in I can give you the full tour?”

“I’d really like that,” Tadashi answers before continuing with a tiny chuckle, “But you’re right, we do need to get moving before Aunt Cass starts to worry about what’s happened to us!”

“Right, let’s get going!” Fred laughs.

“So, do you guys think you’ll need anything more for your new home?” Fred asks once they’re outside again after a quick detour to grab a small box to help carry all of the Hamadas’ things in. “I mean, besides the crate?”

“Well…” Tadashi seems to be considering this. “I mean, if we can find a spare piece of wood to make a new loft for me a Hiro, that would be good.”

“I can definitely take care of that!” Fred reassures him. “What else?”

“We do need a source of water, and also food,” Tadashi answers. “In the forest there’s a stream and trees with nuts and bushes with berries that we can easily live off of. Is there anything like that in your garden?” 

“Water shouldn’t be a problem--I can show you guys how to use the water spout for the hose. As for food--I think there might be a pecan tree, and maybe some berry bushes?” Fred responds, trying to remember. “But yeah, we definitely need to look into that. I mean, I definitely don’t mind bringing you guys food, but I get the feeling that you’d rather be able to provide for yourselves.”

“We definitely appreciate the offer, but yes,” Tadashi agrees. “I’m sure Aunt Cass wouldn’t mind accepting food until we can find a more permanent source of our own, but she’s probably about at her limit of accepting, well… charity at this point.”

“And that is totally okay!” Fred reassures him, completely understanding that the fae had their pride to think about. “Do you think she’d at least be willing to let me help you guys get started providing food for yourselves? I mean, I could totally get you guys seeds or whatever else you needed if you wanted to start a garden or something!”

“A garden?” Tadashi’s wings flutter. “I hadn’t even thought about the fact that we could do that here! We couldn’t really start a garden in the forest without drawing suspicions, and we felt bad stealing from the gardens of any of the humans living around the park, but if you don’t think anyone would notice if we did that here--!”

“If anyone asks, I can say that I’m the one doing the planting and growing!” Fred answers with a grin.

“Aunt Cass would love that!” Tadashi cries, eyes shining. “She’s always wanted a garden--she loves cooking and experimenting in the kitchen, but she never had much of a chance to do that since she was only working with what naturally grew around us.”

“Perfect!” Fred beams at him before asking worriedly, “Do you think it would take too long for the plants to grow and start producing fruit and vegetables, though?”

“Not with fairies helping them grow, it won’t,” Tadashi answers with a grins. “Things just have a tendency to grow quickly around us, and especially with us using our magic to help them along we should have plenty of food to keep us going in no time!”

“Great!” Fred smiles in relief. “All you guys have to do is tell me what types of plants you want and I can go to the store and get whatever you need.”

“That’s very generous of you,” Tadashi says, grinning shyly up at him. 

“Hey, I like helping you guys out, it’s not a problem at all!”

Fred had brought the fairy close to his face as they walked so that he could hear him better (fortunately there wasn’t anyone around so he could do so without raising suspicions.) He liked being able to actually see the expressions changing on the fairy’s tiny, perfect features. What he didn’t expect, as he was smiling down at him, was for Tadashi to suddenly lean forward and, after a moment of hesitation, place the gentlest of kisses on his cheek. It had almost been too soft for Fred to feel, but as soon as his brain registered it he felt a warmth blooming in his cheeks that rivaled the afternoon sunlight beaming down on them. 

“W-What was that for?” he finally manages to get out. 

“It was a thank you,” Tadashi answers, his own cheeks looking quite rosy. “For--well, for everything. Sorry, was it too much?” 

“N-No, not at all!” Fred quickly reassures him. “It was great! I just--does a kiss mean the same thing for a fairy as it does for a human, or…?”

“As far as I know about human customs, yes,” Tadashi answers with a wry smile. 

“Oh--Cool.” Fred nods, not quite sure how to proceed.

“Look, if I made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry,” Tadashi tells him apologetically. “I didn’t mean to-- I just thought that maybe…”

“What? No, absolutely not! I-I’ve kind of been wanting to kiss you ever since I met you yesterday...” Fred admits. 

“O-Oh…” Tadashi ducks his head, but Fred could see a tiny grin on his lips. “Then I guess we’re on the same page?”

“I guess so,” Fred agrees, a happy warmth blooming to life in his chest.

Neither of them said much on the rest of their journey back to the house in the woods, but all the same Fred could feel that something amazing had just started.

It took most of the rest of the afternoon and into the evening to pack the Hamadas’ possessions. Fred has wanted to help inside, but it was quickly determined that he was of better use outside putting things into the moving box because changing back and forth in size was strenuous enough for a fairy, let alone a human whose body wasn’t naturally built for changing sizes like that. Fred pointed out that they could just move everything outdoors and then he could put them all inside the box at the same time, but Aunt Cass told him that someone needed to keep watch and, besides which, Hiro scowled so fiercely at his suggestion that he decided to not push the matter. As it was, he just puts his headphones in and starts listening to some Fall Out Boy to pass the time in between loads being brought out that he could carefully pack into the box.

He didn’t even think about anyone else being able to hear his music until he felt a soft tug on his sleeve and he looks down to see Tadashi sitting next to him and he removes his earbuds.

“Oh, hey!” he says with a smile. “You have something else that needs to be moved?” 

“No, Aunt Cass is making me take a break--I’m not much use since I can’t really walk properly and now that I have all of my things packed up she won’t let me do anything else,” Tadashi answers wryly before glancing at the dangling earbuds. “What are you listening to?” 

“Oh, one of my favorite bands,” Fred explains as Tadashi gingerly settles next to him on the ground. “You want to listen?” 

“Maybe,” Tadashi says, wincing as he moves closer to the earbud. “But right now it’s a little loud, it’s kind of hurting my ears…” 

“Oh, right, sorry!” Fred apologizes, quickly pausing the music as he realizes that, at Tadashi’s size, the music coming from the earbud was probably as loud as a rock concert. 

“It’s okay!” Tadashi reassures him. “We’re still figuring this size difference thing out.”

“True,” Fred agrees before adding, “If you were my size, it might be easier for us to share the earbuds, and it might not be so overpowering, but I don’t know if it would hurt you to change size right now with your sprained wing and everything…”

“That shouldn’t affect me too badly,” Tadashi says. “It doesn’t require me to move my wings or my legs.”

“Well… Okay then! Let’s do it!”

“Shift over a little so I have some room,” Tadashi chuckles, and Fred gladly does so.

As the night before, it took Tadashi only moments to grow to human size, and as soon as he finishes the transformation he grins shyly over at Fred. “Hi…” 

“Hi yourself,” Fred answers, grinning as he moves over to be next to Tadashi again, careful not to brush up against his wings for fear of hurting them. 

“This is nice,” Tadashi admits after a minute of the two of them just bashfully and somewhat awkwardly smiling at each other. 

“Yeah it is,” Fred agrees, even though he wasn’t quite sure which “this” Tadashi was referring to.

“It’s so much easier being the same size as you,” Tadashi clarifies, his hand shyly making its way over to find Fred’s, and Fred was more than happy to link their fingers together. 

“It is. Not that I mind when we’re different sizes! But for practicality purposes--yeah, it does kind of make things easier…” 

“Yeah.” Tadashi gently leans his head against Fred’s shoulder, and for a moment the poor fanboy about has a heart attack. But then the fairy lifts his head again and asks, “So, I think you were going to introduce me to your music?”

“Oh, yes, absolutely!” Fred agrees, quickly fumbling for the earbuds and then handing Tadashi one. “Do you know how to use these?”

“Think so,” Tadashi agrees, carefully inserting it into his ear. “Like this?”

“Perfect,” Fred agrees.

“It feels a little weird…” 

“Yeah, that’s the one downside of them. Usually you stop noticing after it’s been in for a little while, though!”

“Is that safe?”

“...It’s kinda up for debate. If you want we can have you try headphones at some point--those sit over your ears instead of going inside them.”

“Sounds good.” 

“For now, you ready to try this out?”

“Sure, let’s go for it!”

Fred grins and picks up his phone, queuing up one of his favorite songs, “Immortals”. At first Tadashi seemed a little surprised by the slightly harsh melody, but he soon relaxes, a smile making its way onto his face as he listens. 

“What did you think?” Fred asks, pausing once the song is over. “Did you like it?”

“It’s… Different,” Tadashi answers, shaking his head. “I’ve never really heard anything like it before. But I think I could get to like it if I listened to more. Do you have any more songs sung by the same singers?” 

“I do!” Fred tells him with a grin. “You want to keep going?”

“Sure, why not?” Tadashi laughs, his beautiful, bell like voice sending thrills down Fred’s spine as he picks out the next song, “Young Volcanoes”. 

Fred didn’t know how long they were at it, going through song after song, until he finally notices Aunt Cass down on the ground, calling for his attention. 

“On my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Fred apologizes, quickly pulling his earbud out as he realizes that he’d been neglecting his responsibilities. 

“It’s all right,” Aunt Cass answers with a warm smile. “I know you were trying to keep Tadashi’s mind off of packing so that he wouldn’t be restless, and I appreciate that. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve got just about everything packed, so if you could finish putting the rest of our things into the box, I think we’re about ready to leave. And Tadashi, I know you may want to have a chance to say goodbye to the old place before we go.”

“Right.” Fred noticed the sad look on the other man’s face, and it suddenly hits him that, while he himself was excited to have the fairies moving to his house, Tadashi and the other Hamadas were going to be leaving behind their home. Thus he tries to keep his enthusiasm subdued as he goes about quietly transferring the rest of the family’s things into the box while Aunt Cass helps Tadashi, back at fairy size again, into the house to say his goodbyes. 

“You guys ready?” Fred asks gently when they all exit the house again, Aunt Cass closing the door behind them, Hiro holding onto a small moth that Fred could only assume was Mochi and Tadashi reaching out for his hand again for support. 

“Yeah,” Tadashi answers, carefully climbing up into Fred’s hand before smiling up at him. “Let’s go home.”


	5. Chapter 5

By the time that they were almost back at Fred’s house, the sun was already starting to dip down below the horizon, and, although he was trying to be hopeful that the skies wouldn’t let loose before they made it to their destination, the fanboy noticed that the gathering clouds overhead seemed slightly worrisome. 

“Um, hey, just a thought,” he says as he walks, carefully adjusting the large box in his grip to get a better hold on it while trying to avoid jostling Tadashi, who was again riding on his shoulder to keep his hands free. “It might be getting a little late to actually get your new place set up tonight. I know that you said you usually try to stay out in nature as much as possible, and I totally respect that! But would it maybe be a little more comfortable and--I don’t know, safer?--to stay in my house tonight?” 

“Well…” Aunt Cass says slowly, frowning slightly and seeming to be considering his words. 

“Are you kidding? No way!” Hiro cries, darkly scowling up at Fred. “I’d rather spend the night in a bush than sleep in a human’s house!”

“Hiro!” Tadashi cries, glaring down at him. “Will you stop being such a jerk already? Fred is being very nice offering to let us stay in his home!”

“No he’s not,” Hiro answers, sneering. “He just wants to get into your pants, and he’s only offering to help the rest of us because he thinks it will help improve his chances!”

“Hiro, you little shi--!”

“Will both of you stop it!” Aunt Cass shouts, making both boys fall silent, at least for the moment. 

“I’m ashamed of you both right now!” she continues sternly. “Really, what has gotten into you lately? All you’ve done since last night is argue! It’s not like you, and I don’t care what reason you have for it, you need to sort this out as brothers who love each other because deep down I know you both care about each other, even if no one would know it the way you’ve been treating each other!” 

She pauses for a moment to catch her breath before turning away from her nephews to face the human in their midst. “Now, as for you, Fred.”

Fred cringes slightly as the brother’s hang their heads, terrified that he was going to be the next one getting a lecture, and who could blame her considering what Hiro had just said about him? Getting into Tadashi’s pants was the last thing on his mind (well, okay, not the  _ last _ thing, but it definitely was not high on his list of priorities right now), but what if Aunt Cass blamed him for Hiro and Tadashi’s fighting since he was in a way responsible for it? What if she’d decided that he was more trouble than he was worth and she was going to make the family move somewhere far away where he could never see Tadashi again? What if--

“Even though it is unusual for a fae to stay in a human house, these are unusual circumstances, and considering the lateness of the hour and the fact that I can feel rain coming, I think it is our best option, so we’ll gratefully accept your offer,” Aunt Cass says, quickly dissipating his fears with her calm tone. 

“Oh! Okay, awesome!” Fred grins down at her in relief, and he can feel Tadashi’s tight grip on the fabric of his shirt relaxing slightly, indicating that he was as relieved as he was. Hiro still looked incredibly sullen, but he doesn’t say anything else as he follows the rest of his family.

“Whoa, looks like we got here just in time!” Fred says as he steps onto the covered entryway to the house a few minutes later, the first drops of rain just starting to come pattering down.

“And thank goodness for that!” Tadashi agrees, and Fred could feel him pressing up against his neck, trembling just the tiniest bit.

“I’ll take it you don’t like the rain?” 

“We try to avoid going out in it when possible,” Aunt Cass answers. “Mainly it’s just a nuisance, but it can be dangerous.”

“How so?” Fred asks curiously.

“Our wings, genius,” Hiro glares up at him. “They absorb water! If they get too wet, they weigh us down and we can’t fly, which means we can drown ,or become easy prey, or get hit by something like a stupid human vehicle--”

“Hiro,  _ stop it _ !” Tadashi cries, his trembling increasing exponentially, and Fred was somewhat panicked when he feels small drops of moisture that he was sure had nothing to do with the rain against the side of his neck. 

“Dashi, you okay?” Fred asks, not sure what he was supposed to do. He could tell from both the suddenly guilty look on Hiro’s face and the almost livid expression on Aunt Cass’ that there was a lot more to this situation than he could understand as an outsider. 

“C-Can we just go inside? Please?” Tadashi answers, his voice so soft that Fred almost couldn’t hear it. 

“Yeah, of course we can,” Fred answers, quickly unlocking the door and stepping inside--anything that he could do to help Tadashi feel better.

Aunt Cass didn’t say anything until they were in the house, but as soon as the door was closed turns to Fred and asks, “Is there somewhere I could speak to Hiro for a moment alone?”

“Uh, sure?” Fred answers, trying to figure out the best place to offer given the situation and then finally on opening the door to his dad’s library and flipping on the light. “You can use this if you want to.”

“Thank you.” Aunt Cass offers him a slightly tight looking smile before dragging Hiro inside by the tip of his pointed ear. 

Fred, feeling incredibly awkward, goes to set the box with the fairies’ possessions down by the stairs and then sits down on the lowest step, carefully cupping his hands around Tadashi and bringing him around so that he could actually see him. 

“Hey, are you all right?” he asks gently, his heart breaking just the tiniest bit when he sees that, as he’d feared, Tadashi was actually crying. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he offers a bit desperately after a minute in which Tadashi fails to answer, needing some sort of sign that the fairy was okay. 

Tadashi shakes his head, and while it wasn’t exactly the response that Fred had hoped for, at least it was something. Not knowing what else to do, he carefully holds the fairy close to his chest, hoping that his own warmth would offer some sort of small comfort to him.

Tadashi had just started to tremble less noticeably when Hiro and Aunt Cass finally emerged from the library. Hiro looked incredibly sullen but, his aunt’s stern eyes on him, he flies over to where Tadashi and Fred were, taking a deep and slightly labored breath before saying, “Fred, I apologize for being… rude to you,” he says, sounding like he wanted to choke on every word but forcing them out all the same. “You haven’t done anything wrong, and I shouldn’t be saying things about you that aren’t true.”

It was obviously a rehearsed script, but Fred nods to accept the apology, deciding that this was at least hopefully a small step in the right direction.

Hiro then turns to his brother, sounding a lot more sincere as he says softly, “Dashi, I… I’m really, really sorry for what I said out there… A-About the rain and the car… I-It was totally out of line, and I should have realized that it was going to hurt you... No--actually, I knew that it was going to hurt you but I said it anyways which was a totally fucked up thing to do, and I don’t blame you if you don’t want to talk to me. I just--I just wanted to let you know that I’m really freaking sorry.”

Tadashi doesn’t say anything for a full minute, and Fred watched on nervously, not sure what he was supposed to do and very much feeling like he was intruding on the family moment. But then Tadashi finally opens his arms and Hiro, looking incredibly relieved, flies into them, Tadashi wrapping him up in a tight bear hug. Fred does his best not to sigh too audibly, releasing the breath that he hadn’t even realized he was holding as Tadashi says, “I could never stay mad at you, otouto.”

Fred does his best to keep his eyes averted as the brother continue to hug, not wanting to be rude. Still, when he sees Hiro up in the air again, he looks down to check on Tadashi, who appeared to be doing a lot better emotionally than he had only a minute ago.

“So, um--I guess it’s time to get you guys settled in for the night,” Fred says, trying to prevent any awkward silences. 

“I suppose so,” Tadashi agrees, a smile making its way onto his face.   
“I was thinking maybe you guys could stay in my room? I mean, it is kinda the safest place in the house since we’ll have the most privacy there…”

“That sounds great!” Tadashi answers more enthusiastically. “I’ve been curious to see what your room looks like!”

“...I supposed if we have to, I can’t argue,” Hiro sighs, not looking thrilled at the prospect but knowing better than to say something that will get him into trouble again.

“Great, then it’s settled! As long as it’s okay with you, Aunt Cass.”

“I think that’s a good idea for the boys,” Aunt Cass says before adding, “But I will admit, it’s been a very long day and I could use some peace and quiet…”

“Oh, yeah, of course!” Fred agrees, quickly trying to come up with a solution. “I suppose you could stay in the library, if you don’t mind the fact that I couldn’t leave the main light on? Hopefully no one would notice if I just left a lamp on since the door is closed and no one really goes in there this time of night. I don’t think tomorrow is the day that anyone dusts in there, either, so you should be safe.”

“That sounds perfect,” Aunt Cass tells him with a warm smile. 

“Wait, if she’s staying in the library I want to too!” Hiro cries. 

“Sorry, kiddo, I love you but I actually need to get some sleep in,” Aunt Cass says gently but firmly. “You’re staying with the other boys.” 

Hiro scowls, but something about Aunt Cass’s expression is enough to keep him from saying anything more. 

“Um, how about I put your bed on one of the tables with a lamp and then I can bring back some dinner for you?” Fred suggests.

“Wonderful.” Aunt Cass smiles up at him before beckoning to the little silkmoth who had been curiously fluttering around the foyer. “C’mon, Mochi!”

Mochi obediently buzzes into her arms, and Fred felt a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he carefully lifts Aunt Cass’ bed out of the box and carries it into the library--he’d never seen a moth with so much personality before! But, then again, maybe he just hadn’t been watching close enough to notice.

Once Aunt Cass is settled in, Fred decides to tackle the next task. Fortunately Saturday night was a pretty slow night around here--most of the staff had the night off, which made it that much easier to smuggle a couple of fairies into the kitchen. Still, Fred checks around to make sure that Marie wasn’t there before signaling the all clear for Hiro. Even the cook must have had plans for the evening and so they were free talk and explore as freely as they wanted to.

“So, what exactly do fairies eat?” Fred asks curiously. 

“Well, usually whatever’s available to us, so it kinda varies,” Tadashi answers with a slight shrug. “Our stomachs can handle just about anything a human’s can, just in smaller portions.”

“Huh, cool! But I’m kinda assuming you guys are vegetarian?” 

“Vegetarian?”

“You don’t eat meat, right?”

“I mean, it’s not really a staple in our diet since obviously most animals that humans eat are a lot bigger than us, but it’s not like we can’t eat it.” Tadashi shrugs again. “Hiro and I have scavenged the leftovers off of picnics before and we’ve never had any problems with it.”

“...Wait, seriously?” Fred asks incredulously before instantly backpedaling, realizing that his words might have come off as rude. “Oh, okay! Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed! I guess I just thought-- Y’know, there are stories about fairies having a connection with animals in nature and stuff…” 

“Oh, so fairies can’t eat meat because they have a connection with animals, but humans who have animals for pets can?” Hiro snarks.

“Hiro!” Tadashi glares at him. “It was an honest mistake, he didn’t know!”

“No, he does have a point, I shouldn’t have made assumptions,” Fred says, feeling embarrassed. 

“You’re still learning,” Tadashi states firmly. “Just like we’re still learning about humans, and I know you wouldn’t make fun of us for making a mistake.”

“Whatever.” Hiro rolls his eyes grumpily. “Can we just get to the finding food part?” 

“Right!” Fred hurries over to the fridge, swinging the door open. “Grab whatever looks good!”

“Whoa…” Hiro appears to be too stunned by what he was seeing to say anything negative as he flies over for a better look. “That’s a lot of food…” 

“Well, to be fair, there are a lot of people in this house that Marie has to cook for,” Fred explains, feeling a bit awkward, worried what the fairies might be thinking about the apparent excess.

“And from your perspective it probably isn’t near as much as it seems to be from a fairy’s,” Tadashi quickly puts in.

“R-Right…” Fred agrees, feeling a tiny bit better. “Um, you guys just grab whatever looks good, okay?” 

“What are you eating?” Tadashi asks, glancing up at him.

“Well, since I’m cooking for myself tonight? Probably frozen pizza,” Fred answers with a wry smile.

“Pizza? I’ve never actually gotten the chance to try that, but I’ve heard that it tastes amazing...” Tadashi admits, looking slightly wistful. 

“You want to share with me?” Fred offers. “If I make a full pizza, it’s going to be way too much for one person!”

“You wouldn’t mind?” Tadashi asks eagerly. 

“Not at all!” Fred beams down at him before turning to the other fairy. “Hiro, how about you? You want to get in on this?” 

Hiro scowls, and Fred is sure that he’s about to refuse, but after a moment of holding out his curiosity seems to get the better of him and he agrees, “Well… Okay. I guess it couldn’t hurt…”

“Great!” Even if it was only a tiny victory, it was a victory nonetheless and Fred was incredibly proud of it.

“But I don’t think Aunt Cass is going to want any,” Hiro quickly continues, his scowl returning full force. 

“How about you taking her one of those strawberries?” Tadashi answers, pointing to a carton of the bright red fruit. “I think that would be more than enough for both her and Mochi.” 

“Okay,” Hiro agrees, seeming to be eager to avoid any more arguments with his elder sibling as he selects one of the berries and starts flying back to the library without any further comment.

“I’m sorry about Hiro,” Tadashi says, giving Fred an apologetic smile as soon as the younger boy is out of hearing range. “Sometimes he can just be so stubborn about change…”

“Hey, change is never easy,” Fred answers with a shrug. “I mean, as far as I can tell he hasn’t had a lot of reason to trust humans up to this point, so I can’t expect him to trust me after knowing me for less than a day, right?”

“You are amazing, you know that?” Tadashi says after staring up at him in silence for a minute. 

“I-I’m not that amazing…” Fred mumbles, cheeks tingeing red. 

“Amazing enough for me,” Tadashi answers, gently lifting one of Fred’s fingers with his miniscule hands and pressing a soft kiss to it. 

“Y-You have got to stop doing that…” Fred barely manages to get out while holding back a whine that he knew would get him murdered if Hiro heard it. 

“Sorry, too much?” Tadashi asks, looking stricken and a bit guilty. 

“What? No! I-It’s just making me want to kiss you for real…” Fred admits, cheeks burning. 

“Oh? Oh!” Tadashi’s eyes go wide and then glint with a hint of mischief. “I think that could be arranged…” 

Fred feels his heart thumping hard in his chest, but before he can say anything more, Hiro returns, announcing loudly, “Aunt Cass says she doesn’t want to be disturbed for the rest of tonight unless it’s an emergency, so I guess it’s just the three of us.” 

He looks challengingly up at Fred, as if daring him to argue, but this time, instead of flinching away, Fred holds his gaze, answering calmly, “Great! That means we can all hang out together!”

It was clear that Hiro hadn’t been expecting such a cheerful response, and he appeared slightly unnerved by it, but he doesn’t back down either. “Yeah. Sure. Great.”

“So, what do you usually do on Saturday nights around here?” Tadashi asks cheerfully, trying to ease the tension.

“Well, first things first, I need to get the oven heating up for dinner,” Fred answers, gently moving the fairy to his shoulder so that both his hands would be free. “And then--I don’t know. I mean, I guess it’s up to you guys what you want to do since you are the guests!”

“We don’t really know what’s available,” Tadashi gently reminds him, “so maybe you can give us some options?” 

“Oh, yeah, sure!” Fred could have kicked himself for making such a stupid mistake. “Uh, let’s see… I mean, if you guys want to just chill we could put in a movie or something, and there’s always video games--”

“ _ Wait _ . Video games?” 

Fred was slightly shocked to find that it was Hiro who had actually spoken up this time, but when he sees the wide eyed expression on the fae’s face he decides to press his advantage. 

“Yeah, definitely! Do you play?” 

“I-I’ve never had the chance,” Hiro answers, sounding slightly wistful. “But I’ve seen human kids playing them and I’ve always wanted to give it a try…”

“Well then, I know what we’re doing tonight!” Fred says with a grin.

“Really?” In spite of the fact that he was obviously trying not to look too eager, Hiro’s wings were practically quivering with excitement.

“Really, as long as Tadashi doesn’t mind,” Fred tells him. 

“I don’t see why not--I’ve always wanted to give them a try too!” Tadashi answers with a grin.

“Great--gaming night it is, then!” Fred laughs. 

As soon as the pizza is finished cooking, Fred and the two brothers make their way to Fred’s bedroom. Tadashi seemed fascinated by just about everything in it as Fred shows him around, and he asked probably about a million questions before his curiosity was at least momentarily satiated. Hiro seemed to be doing his best not to give any more signs of actually warming up to Fred, but the fanboy grins when he catches sight of the boy practically drooling over his gaming system. 

Tadashi was the first to switch to human size once the tour is complete, Fred helping him get comfortable on the floor in front of the tv with a pile of cushions stacked behind him. Hiro seemed reluctant to do the same but, finally realizing that he couldn’t properly handle a controller when he was smaller than it, he does the same. 

“This feels so weird…” Hiro quietly mutters, shaking his head as he sits down on the other side of Tadashi from where Fred was sitting. 

“I’ll take it you don’t become human size that often?” Fred asks in the interest of conversation.

“No,” Hiro states flatly. 

Fred was just trying to figure out how to salvage the situation from becoming awkward when he suddenly hears a familiar voice outside the door to his room. 

“Fred? Fred dear, are you in there?” 

“Marie!” Fred’s eyes go wide--shoot, what was she doing here so late on a Saturday? She couldn’t come in and see Hiro and Tadashi, she’d completely flip if she saw two fairies in his room! Far too late he realized that he hadn’t engaged the lock on his bedroom door, and before he could even make a move to stop it, the door slides open. 

For one terrified moment, Fred just freezes, sure that the jig was up. But when the grey haired cook smiles and says, “Oh, Fred sweetheart, I didn’t realize you had friends over!” he glances over at first Tadashi and then Hiro, his heart stopping in his chest for a moment at what he was seeing--or, more specifically, not seeing. Both fairies were missing their wings and, incredibly, their fairy garb seemed to have been replaced by modern human clothes, Hiro in cargo shorts and a blue hoodie, Tadashi in brown skinny jeans and an olive green blazer. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Tadashi says as politely and breezilly as if he hadn’t just completely changed his appearance in all of five seconds. 

Hiro doesn’t say anything, but he at least nods, and Marie beams at the both of them. 

“Well, I won’t keep you, it looks like you’re busy right now! But Fred, would you like me to bring some snacks for all of you?” 

“T-That would be nice, thank you,” Fred manages to get out, just barely grasping at words to form a coherent sentence. “But, um, could you please just leave them outside the door?”

“Of course, sweetie.” If Marie was at all phased by the request, she doesn’t show it--she was too used to Fred by now (she had practically raised him) to question his sometimes slightly eccentric sounding whims. 

“W-What was that?” Fred gasps when Marie closes the door.

“Sorry we didn’t have time to warn you, but we didn’t have a lot of warning ourselves!” Tadashi answers with an apologetic grin as, before Fred’s eyes, his wings reappear and his clothes go back to their normal appearance. 

“Y-You can make yourselves look human?” Fred cries. 

“It’s a self defense thing,” Hiro answers with a shrug. “What do you think would have happened if she’d seen our wings?”

“It’s kind of like how butterflies camouflage themselves to blend in with foliage--it helps keep us safe,” Tadashi adds. 

“So, like, you guys could just go out into the human world at any time and no one would know that you’re fairies?” Fred asks eagerly. 

“Uh--we could?” Tadashi says uncertainly.

“But we don’t,” Hiro states with a slight glare at Fred.

“Why not?” Fred presses. “I mean, I totally would if I was a fairy!”

“The magic only lasts for a short period of time,” Tadashi gently explains. “We never know exactly how long before it wears off. I’ve tried testing it out before, I can go for about half an hour at most, and that was really pushing it.” 

“Huh…” Fred considers this and then nods. “Yeah, that makes sense why you wouldn’t do that, then. Still, it’s really cool that you can do that!”

“Thanks,” Tadashi chuckles. 

“Enough talking--can we start playing the game already?” Hiro asks, rolling his eyes impatiently. 

“Sure thing,” Fred answers with a smile. “What game do you want to play?” 

“Um… I-I don’t really know,” Hiro admits, his wings dipping slightly. “I’ve never actually played a game before…”

“But he’s a really fast learner!” Tadashi puts in encouragingly.

“Okay then--let’s start you off with one of my favorite games,  _ Kingdom Hearts _ !” Fred says with a grin. “It starts off pretty slow, and I think you’ll really enjoy the story! It isn’t multiplayer but…”

“I don’t mind watching,” Tadashi reassures. 

“And if I’m not playing I’ll be available to help you out if you need it,” Fred says.

“Wow, you really don’t have to--” Hiro starts to protest, actually looking a bit embarrassed by the attention, but Fred firmly cuts him off. 

“Nope! This is something you’ve always wanted to do so you get the full experience!”

“Okay… Thanks.” Hiro, for the first time that Fred could remember, actually seems to be  _ smiling _ at him, just the tiniest bit, and Fred has to hold back a victory cheer as he goes to find the game.

The gaming session, as it turned out, went much later into the night than Fred had originally intended. Hiro was immediately hooked on the game, and with the way he kept flying through every level after getting used to the controls, Fred wasn’t about to hold him back. He didn’t even realize how late it was getting until he noticed that Tadashi had nodded off at some point, his head resting on his shoulder. Fred was just daring to gently brush some loose hair off of Tadashi’s face to make him more comfortable when he noticed that Hiro had paused the game and was watching him.

“S-Sorry!” Fred apologizes, jumping guiltily. 

“No, it’s… Well, it’s not exactly fine with me, but I’m not about to stop you,” Hiro sighs, his fingers absently toying with the buttons and levers on the game remote. “Look, I can tell that you like Tadashi--no, don’t try to deny it, you totally do--and I can see the way Tadashi looks at you and it’s pretty obvious even to me that he’s head over heels for you. I don’t know how you got to him that fast when he just met you yesterday, but he’s been--happy today. Happier than I’ve seen him… Possibly ever. You make him happy, and since you’ve pretty much proved yourself even beyond my standards that you’re not about to stick us in a cage or sell us to a museum, I’m not about to stop this if it’s what Tadashi really wants.”

“W-Wow, thank you, you have no idea how much that means--”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s easy for me to trust you, okay?” Hiro growls out, sounding frustrated. “Humans can hurt fae even without trying--that’s how my mom and dad died. It’s why Tadashi’s hates the rain so much--my mom got caught in the rain and her wings weighed her down and while she was trying to fly for shelter some careless human driver didn’t even see her. She tried to fly to safety, and my dad went to save her, but in the end they both got hit and they were just--gone. Just like that. No warning. No chance to even say goodbye. A human took away our family and they probably don’t even know what they did.”

Hiro pauses for a moment, his wings sagging, before continuing,“Tadashi--he saw it all happen. And it took a really, really long time before he was even close to okay again. That’s why it scares me a little bit seeing him with you. I just don’t want to see him get hurt like that again.”

“Hiro… I-I’m so sorry, I had no idea,” Fred says softly. “If something like that had happened to my parents… I don’t know if I would trust me either… But I promise you--I would never do anything to hurt Tadashi. My only goal right now is to keep him safe and to make him happy.”

“I know.” Hiro offers him the tiniest hint of a smile. “That’s why, even though I have my doubts, I’m not going to say anything more against this. As long as you keep that promise, I won’t try to get between you two.”

“Thank you, I swear I wo--”

“But if you  _ ever _ break that promise, I will make sure that you pay for it every day of the rest of your miserable life. Got it?” 

“Got it.” 

“Good.” Apparently satisfied, Hiro turns his attention back to the game.

Fred knew that he should probably be more frightened by Hiro’s words, but oddly enough they had only fueled his determination to do everything that he could to prove to Tadashi’s family that he was worthy of Tadashi. That is, provided Tadashi actually wanted him in that way. He was pretty sure that he did, and Hiro seemed to think that that was the case. But aside from those two sort of kisses, Tadashi hadn’t really explicitly said that he wanted to be his boyfriend or be romantically involved with him. How exactly was he supposed to figure that out? 

Fred was just about to work himself up to a minor psychological crisis when he suddenly feels Tadashi gently nuzzling into his neck in his sleep, a beautiful, sleepy smile crossing his face as the fanboy looks down at him, and Fred finds himself smiling. Okay, so maybe he didn’t know where exactly he stood with Tadashi right now. But there wasn’t anything wrong with that. He had all the time in the world to figure that out, and as long as Tadashi was happy that’s all that he really cared about.


	6. Chapter 6

Fred spent the entirety of the next day, Sunday, helping the family of fairies get their new home in order. Most of the time he stayed human size, helping unpack larger objects like furniture and running errands to get things that the fairies needed that they hadn’t been able to bring with them, as well as showing them how to work the hose tap in the garden to get water and discussing with Aunt Cass the best types of seeds to get from the gardening store so they could actually start planting the garden that they’d discussed. The favorite parts of his day, though, were the ones when Tadashi would shrink him so that he could help on the inside of the house. It was so interesting to see the world from so close to the ground, and, beyond that, getting to be on the same level as Tadashi was always a plus. True, he couldn’t help with some things like the building of the new loft since he didn’t have wings to fly with. But Tadashi found enough things that he could help with to make him feel included, and he was incredibly grateful to him for that. By the end of the night, the house was beginning to look like a real home. Still, Fred was glad when Tadashi suggested that they spend one more night in the human house until they could put the finishing touches on their new home--another night with Tadashi in his room was pure heaven on Earth for him. 

Monday presented a unique problem for Fred. He told Tadashi that he was more than willing to skip classes to finish helping the family move in, but, to his disappointment, Tadashi insisted that he attend classes as usual, saying that he wasn’t going to let Fred miss out on his education on his account. (And since his legs and wings seemed to be fully healed by now he didn’t need Fred’s help getting around anymore.) But even though Fred reluctantly did go to his classes, he wasn’t sure how much good it actually did him. He was distracted the whole time, eager to get home and see Tadashi again. The instant that his last class ended he all but ran out of the classroom to catch the quickest tram home.

“Tadashi!” Fred calls, racing into the garden as soon as he’s home. “Tadashi, I’m back!”

“Fred, hey!” Tadashi pokes his head out of the door of the fairies’ new home, beaming up at him. “How was school?” 

“Ugh, boring,” Fred answers, sticking his tongue out. 

“Do you hate your classes that much?” Tadashi asks with a concerned frown. “Maybe you’re studying the right subject if that’s the case…”

“What? Oh, no, they’re usually fine!” Fred answers, quickly waving aside his concerns. “They’re just boring in comparison to hanging out with you.”

“F-Fred…” Fred grins as he sees Tadashi blushing.

“The important thing is that I’m home now so we can hang out!” Fred adds, kneeling down next to the crate. 

“Don’t you have homework?” Tadashi gives him a dubious look.

“Nah--everything that I needed to get done I finished in the library between classes,” Fred answers, waving aside his concerns. 

“How do I know you’re not lying just so I’ll say yes to us hanging out?” Tadashi crosses his arms over his chest.

“...You don’t, but I’m asking you to trust me?”

“All right, fine,” Tadashi sighs, losing the fight to keep the serious look on his face and holding a hand out to him. “C’mon--Aunt Cass is making tea.”

“Awesome!” Fred beams and puts out his hand so that Tadashi can grab hold of it and shrink him down to fairy size. 

“I think I’m getting used to that!” Fred says proudly once he’s down to Tadashi’s size again. 

“I’m glad to hear that,” Tadashi chuckles, pecking him on the cheek. 

Fred very much wanted to ask about the kissing--about what exactly it meant to Tadashi so that he’d know where they were both at on their relationship--but before he can Tadashi was leading him into the house, and he didn’t feel comfortable having such a sensitive conversation in front of Tadashi’s family. 

“Fred, I’m so happy you can join us!” Aunt Cass beams and waves from the table where she was setting out the tea things. “Please, come sit down! I know you must be tired after being in classes all day!”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Fred says politely as Tadashi pulls him onto a seat next to him at the table.

“Everything looks great in here!” he adds, looking around the interior of the home which was starting to really look like a home. “

“Thank you!” Aunt Cass answers as Hiro joins them and she starts pouring the tea. “I think we’ve just about finished setting up everything in here, so the next step will be starting the garden!”

“Right!” Fred agrees, very much enjoying feeling included in all of this. “I know I picked those seeds up for you yesterday while you were unpacking, is there anything else that you need?” 

“Not that I can think of for now, but if we do think of anything we’ll let you know,” Aunt Cass promises. “You’ve been so good to us, I don’t even know how to begin to thank you!”

“I’m just glad that I can help out in any way,” Fred reassures her, meaning every word of it. 

“Once we finish the garden, I’ll be able to start going to classes again!” Tadashi tells Fred, capturing his attention. “I hope that I don’t miss anything too important, but fortunately I think this week was mostly tests and class presentations.”

“Tadashi, you know that I’m fine with you going back to classes now,” Aunt Cass says firmly. “I know how important they are to you, and Hiro and I can handle the gardening while you’re gone, you can help out after classes.” 

“But I’d feel awful leaving all the work to you guys!” Tadashi protests.

“Well you shouldn’t, you’ve already helped plenty!”

“What all classes are you taking?” Fred asks quickly, trying to head off this disagreement turning into a full argument. 

“Well, at first I was a bit confused about what classes to take,” Tadashi admits. “I mean, there’s so many of them and they’re all over the place and all at different times!”

“Yep, that definitely sounds like college--even those of us who are officially enrolled get confused!” Fred laughs.

“Yeah.” Tadashi gives him a sheepish smile. “But finally I found a guy who seemed to be taking classes that made some sense to me, and, after following him around for a bit, I was able to copy down the schedule of classes that he’s taking from his binder without him seeing me and I’ve been doing pretty okay with that.”

“That’s awesome!” Fred grins at him before adding, “Y’know… I’m actually the mascot at SFIT, and my dad’s an alum there so I kinda have some connections. I don’t think we’d be officially get you enrolled for classes without any school records, but if you ever wanted to talk with any of the professors about questions that you might have I’d totally be down with helping you set up a meeting . We wouldn't let them know that you’re a fairy, of course! But I know that you said you can make yourself look human for up to half an hour so if you wanted to do a short meeting...”

“Wait, are you serious?” Tadashi’s eyes go wide as he looks over at him. “Y-You could do that?”

“Sure!” Fred answers with a grin, pleased to see how excited Tadashi was. “I’m on pretty good terms with Professor Callaghan--he and my dad have been friends since before I was born, I think they were in school together or something--so he’d probably be the easiest to get into contact with if you’d like to talk to him! I’m not sure what exactly your specialty is in studying at SFIT, but I know he’s pretty high up there in the ranks of teaching.”

“Wait, you're friends with Professor Callaghan?” Tadashi gasps. “ _ The _ Professor Callaghan? From everything I’ve heard, he’s a robotics genius! I’ve sat in on a few of his classes but most of it goes right over my head, I’m still trying to learn the basics… If I could talk with him one-on-one, even for just a few minutes, maybe he could help me understand things better!”

“In that case I’ll totally set up a meeting for you two!” Fred beams at him. “I’ve only got a morning class on Fridays, and I know that he has office hours on Friday afternoons--if you wouldn’t mind sitting in on one of my classes at SF State we could head over to SFIT as soon as it’s over and I can introduce you guys!” 

“That… Would be so incredibly amazing,” Tadashi breathes. “Y-You’re sure it wouldn’t be any trouble?” 

“Absolutely not,” Fred answers firmly. 

“You are seriously the best!” Tadashi throws his arms around him and kisses him on the cheek, making Fred blush bright pink. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“O-Of course!” Fred stammers out. “It’s a date!” 

It took him a moment to realize exactly what he said, and then he quickly tries to backpedal. “I mean, it’s not a date! Or, it’s not a date unless you want it to be? I-I’d like it to be a date, but if you’re not comfortable with that then we can just go as friends--”

“Freddy.” Tadashi’s smile was enough to make Fred’s mouth finally stop word vomiting. “I’d love for it to be a date.”

“Oh, g-great!” Fred knew that he was grinning like an idiot, but he didn’t care. He had an actual date with Tadashi! How amazing was this?

“Oh my goodness, Tadashi’s first date!” Aunt Cass cries, looking every bit like a proud mama hen. “This is so exciting!” 

“Ugh, just don’t be gross around here!” Hiro groans, looking disgusted. 

“We’ll do our best!” Tadashi laughs, gently squeezing Fred’s arm, before frowning slightly. “Wait--what is this?” 

He lifts Fred’s arm up for further examination before Fred could stop him--dammit, in his excitement over seeing Tadashi today he’d forgotten to wear long sleeves!

“I-It’s nothing!” Fred cries, trying to pull his arm away.

“Nothing?” Tadashi looks incredulously back at him before gesturing to the hard, almost scale-like patch of skin on his arm--one of many that Fred had found forming on his skin over the years and which had only continued to grow as he’d gotten older. “Fred, I’m not a doctor but that doesn’t look healthy! Isn’t this something you should have looked at?”

“I have had it looked at, but there’s nothing that can be done about it,” Fred sighs. “It’s just some weird skin thing that runs on my dad’s side of the family. He said the doctors don’t know what causes it, it must be something super rare, but it’s nothing more than a nuisance so I usually try to keep it hidden by wearing long sleeves… Sorry, is it weird to you?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you’re safe,” Tadashi reassures him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable! If it’s something that isn’t hurting you then of course I’m okay with it!” 

“Hm…” Aunt Cass stands up and comes over to join them. “That is odd…. I wonder if maybe one of my magical remedies might help with that. Only if you’d be okay with me trying, sweetie!” 

“I, um… I-I guess it wouldn’t hurt?” Fred answers with a small shrug--how had things gone off on such a weird tangent? Still, it would be rude to turn down the offer, so he didn’t really know how he could say no to this.

“All right, just let me get my herbs and potion making supplies and I’ll be right back!” Aunt Cass says before fluttering off to her room.

“You really don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, y’know,” Hiro says once she’s gone. “I know she’s trying to help, but I don’t know if fairy healing magic will interact okay with a human…”

“Well, um, hopefully I’ll be fine…” Fred was touched that Hiro actually seemed concerned for him, but he really didn’t see a way to get himself out of this at this point.

“All right, I’m back!” Aunt Cass says with a smile, returning with a bag full of ingredients and a thick book bound in birch bark. “Let’s see…” She starts flipping through the book, coming to a stop at a page near the back. “Ah, here we go! A potion to return damaged skin to its original condition!”

“That does sound like a good solution,” Fred agrees, trying not to get nervous as Aunt Cass starts pulling things out of her bag and crushing them in a stone bowl with a pestle.

“This is just going to make a nice poultice, and it should help that go away,” Aunt Cass explains. 

When she was finally finished and started pressing the goop that she’d made onto his arm, he had to agreed that it didn’t feel too bad--kind of nice and cooling, and it smelled of lavender. 

“How’s that feeling, honey?” Aunt Cass asks. 

“Not too bad,” Fred admits. “But how do we know if it’s working?” 

“Well, we’re supposed to leave it on for a good ten minutes, so I guess we’ll have to see if there’s any results after that.”

“Okay, cool. I can live with that.” 

“Even if it doesn’t work, you know that I still think you’re the most handsome guy I’ve ever met, right?” Tadashi says softly to him.

“I did not know that, but I appreciate hearing it,” Fred answers with a grin. 

The two of them fall into soft smalltalk to help pass the time, Aunt Cass keeping an eye on the clock (which appeared to be the face of an old watch) for them. The longer that the poultice was on, the more Fred felt an uncomfortable itching sensation on the parts of his arm that it was in contact with, but he did his best to ignore it, figuring that it was just part of the healing process. (He really hoped that it was working, it would be nice to be able to just wear short sleeves out in public again.) It wasn’t until they were almost at the ten minute mark, when poultice started to burn and smoke, that he started to realize that something was going terribly wrong. 

“Oh my gosh!” As soon as she noticed the smoke, Aunt Cass rushes over and starts removing the poultice, but even once it was off Fred still felt like his entire arm--and a good portion of his insides--were on fire. 

“I’ll get some cold water!” Hiro cries, hurrying out of the house as Tadashi holds Fred, who was biting back a cry of pain, trying not to pass out.

“Fred, I’m so, so sorry!” Aunt Cass cries as Hiro returns with a bucket filled from the water barrel outside, quickly plunging Fred’s arm into the cold water. “I-I thought it would help, I didn’t realize you’d have such a reaction to it--!”

“I-It’s fine,” Fred manages to get out through gritted teeth--the water was helping some, but everything was still burning. It was almost a full five minutes before the burning finally started to ebb away, but it never fully disappeared, just concentrating in a small, more manageable ball in his chest. 

“Maybe we should have you go lie down,” Tadashi says in concern when Fred finally starts breathing more normally again, wiping his forehead with a cool, damp towel. 

“Might not be a b-bad idea…” Fred answers, feeling exhausted, like the entire inside of his body had been scorched clean. It was with great dismay that he found, once he pulled his arm out of the bucket, that the scaley portion of his skin hadn’t gone away--if anything, it had gotten even larger, covering almost all of the top of his forearm, and it had taken on a shiny, almost golden texture. 

“Oh no…” Aunt Cass whispers in dismay. “Fred, I am so sorry, I feel just awful…” 

“It’s fine,” Fred sighs, learning on Tadashi who was holding him up at this point. “You were just trying to help, you couldn’t have known that this was going to happen…”

“I told you guys mixing fae magic with humans wasn’t a good idea,” Hiro quietly grumbles, but Fred vaguely notices the look of concern on his face as Tadashi helps him out the door and back through the garden so he could rest in his own room.

The rest of the week was spent in misery for Fred. While his arm eventually stopped hurting and the rash on his skin didn’t spread any further (or at least he was trying to believe that it wasn’t spreading), he couldn’t get rid of the burning sensation in his chest, and he constantly felt like he was overheating. Aunt Cass had offered to try to find another solution to try to help him but he’d politely turned her offer down, not trusting what any more magic might do to him, no matter how well meant. On the other hand, he didn’t exactly feel like he could go to his family’s physician with this either--how could he explain to him that fairy magic that had caused all of this? So the only thing he could do was suffer in silence and hope that this would eventually pass. It was a very good thing that he had his first date with Tadashi to look forward to in order to give him something else to focus on. 

“Are you sure you feel up to this?” Tadashi asks before they leave out on Friday morning. “I know you’re still not feeling great, and if you need to rest--”

“Tadashi, its fine,” Fred reassures him. “Really. I need a good distraction right now.”

“Okay,” Tadashi agrees, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before settling more comfortably on his shoulder. “Well if you need to take a break you tell me, okay?” 

“I will,” Fred promises. “And if you get bored during my class you just let me know and I’ll slip you my phone to play games on or something, all right?” 

“I appreciate that, but I think I’ll actually enjoy this!” Tadashi tells him with a smile. “I’ve never been to a literature class before, but it sounds interesting!”

“Well, here’s hoping you still think that after the class…” Fred personally really enjoyed his literature classes, but he knew that a lot of people did not share his sentiments. Fortunately, as it turned out, Tadashi was not one of those people.

“That was really good!” Tadashi says as the two of them make their way to SFIT that afternoon. “I didn’t realize that humans had literature about vampires!”

“Yeah, Dracula’s a classic--and as you can probably tell, my Brit Lit professor’s obsessed with him,” Fred laughs. 

“It’s definitely interesting to hear what ideas you guys have about vampires--I mean, a lot of them aren’t right, but I’m surprised that you actually knew about them to begin with considering how well mythicals hide themselves. But I guess Dracula was written in a time when humans and mythical beings did interact with each other more than they do nowadays,” Tadashi muses.

“Wait.” Fred slows to a stop, his brain whirling at Tadashi’s words. “Are you trying to tell me… That vampires are real?” 

“What, you didn’t think that fairies were the only ones that were real, did you?” Tadashi asks, looking slightly amused. 

“I--I didn’t want to assume,” Fred breathes, trying to process this new information. “So all the mythical beings I’ve read about over the years--they’re all real?”

“Well, maybe not all of them, and probably your stories don’t have a lot of the details right, but yeah!” Tadashi chuckles. “San Fransokyo and the surrounding area is actually a pretty big center for mythical beings--just like a bunch of different human cultures all mixed together here, a lot of mythicals came here to start new and better lives for their families. You didn’t know?”

“How was I supposed to know when I didn’t even know that fairies were real until a few days ago?” Fred cries, only to realize that he was being far too loud considering Tadashi’s size right now. “S-Sorry!” he whispers. 

“It’s okay,” Tadashi reassures him. “And I’m sorry too, I shouldn't have assumed that you’d know and dropped all of that on you.” 

“It’s fine. I’m just… Really curious now, actually. Do you know any other mythicals?” Fred asks eagerly, starting to walk again, realizing that if he didn’t keep moving they’d miss Callaghan’s office hours and he didn’t want to do that to Tadashi.

“Not a lot,” Tadashi answers thoughtfully. “We usually try to stay out of each other’s way, to an extent--some types of mythicals are super territorial and we try to respect that. I’ve met some other families of fairies over time, but as you may have noticed the park isn’t exactly the safest place anymore so a lot of them have moved to wooded areas outside of the city for safety reasons.”

“Oh, I see.” Fred nods slowly. “That’s really sad to hear…”

“It is what it is.” Tadashi sighs and shrugs. “I guess we’re just really lucky to have found you.”

“Well I’m glad that I can help.” Fred beams down at him bashfully. 

“Most humans wouldn’t have reacted as well as you to meeting a fae--you took it so calmly that sometimes I have to wonder if you’re really human or if you’re one of us,” Tadashi playfully teases. 

“Pft, sure,” Fred laughs. “Don’t go getting my hopes up! It feels like I’ve spent half of my life wishing that I could be something other than human, but I think we both know that’s not going to happen.”

“Well, I think you’re pretty amazing, even if you are just a normal human,” Tadashi tells him with a warm smile. 

“Aww, thanks Dashi.” Fred grins as he finally comes to a stop in front of Callaghan’s office. “All right, this is it! You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Tadashi answers with a nervous smile.


	7. Chapter 7

Fred quickly checks to make sure that the hallway was clear before setting Tadashi down on the ground to allow him to grow to human size and then shift into his human disguise. 

“That is still incredibly hot, you know that?” Fred says without thinking. “N-Not that you don’t look super handsome as a fairy too!” he quickly backpedals. “It’s just-- T-This is a really nice look for you too!”

“It’s fine, Fred,” Tadashi chuckles, looking embarrassed but pleased. “It’s… flattering that you find me attractive both as a fae and a human.”

“Yeah?” Fred gives him a hopeful smile.

“Absolutely,” Tadashi agrees, squeezing Fred’s hand and making his heart soar like it was flying. And if the fact that the ball of heat that was still hanging around in his chest seemed to flare into life again at the contact? Well, Tadashi didn’t need to know--Fred didn’t want to worry him when things were going so well..

“All right, so, let’s do this!” Fred says, quickly turning his attention to the professor’s door and knocking on it. “Professor Callaghan? It’s Fred Lee, do you have a minute?”

“Yes, please, come in!” a genial voice answers from the other side and, having been granted permission, Fred opens the door and pulls Tadashi inside.

“Fred, a pleasure to see you,” the silver haired man sitting behind the desk by the window says, standing up and smiling at him. “To what do I owe this honor?”

“Hey, Professor C!” Fred answers with a grin. “Good to see you too! I’m actually here because my friend, Tadashi,” he gently ushers the fae, who was half hiding behind him, forward, “is a huge fan of your work and he wanted to meet you! He’s been… homeschooled for most of his life in an area where they didn’t have a lot of technology, but he’s very eager to learn more.”

“H-How do you do, sir?” Tadashi tentatively offers him his hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Tadashi,” Professor Callaghan says with a warm smile. “But please, there’s no need to call me ‘sir’. Professor, or Professor Callaghan, is just fine.”

“Yes, sir,” Tadashi agrees nervously before crying, “I-I mean, yes, Professor!” 

Professor Callaghan chuckles, not seeming upset by his slipup. “Please.” He gestures to the empty chairs by his desk. “Make yourselves comfortable.” 

The two boys sit down in the indicated seats. Callaghan returns to his own chair before asking, “So, Tadashi, what sort of technology are you interested in learning about?” 

“All sorts!” Tadashi answers eagerly, seeming to forget his shyness. “I want to learn everything that I can!”

“That is an admirable goal. Still, technology is a very vast field. Is there anything particular area that you’ve thought you’d like to specialize in, at least to begin with?”

“Well… I-I’ve always found robotics fascinating.”

“Ah, then you’re in the perfect place--I have a doctorate degree in robotics!”

“I know!” Tadashi leans forward eagerly. “I read your book on the laws of robotics! I couldn’t understand all of it, but everything that I could understand was genius!” 

“Thank you, I appreciate that, but I’d hardly call it genius,” Callaghan answers modestly. “But any questions that you have I’d be more than happy to answer for you.”

Fred allows himself to zone out as Tadashi and the professor start talking robotics--despite Callaghan’s best attempts, Fred had never been able to understand robotics, and given he didn’t have any interest in the subject that had never really bothered him. His eyes wander the room, looking over the familiar shelves of books and framed photographs of Callaghan with his daughter, Abigail. Fred and Abigail weren’t exactly close friends, especially considering Abigail was a good five years older than him, but they had grown up together, and he did enjoy getting to catch up with her whenever they were at their families’ events together. 

Eventually Fred’s eyes fall on Callaghan again, and he frowns as he notices that the professor was looking a bit under the weather--he had dark circles under his eyes; even though it was only one in the afternoon, he had a fairly heavy five o’clock shadow; and his hands were almost imperceptibly shaking as they absently fiddling with the moonstone that hung on a chain around his neck. Fred couldn’t remember a time that he’d seen Callaghan without it on, and in particular he remembered seeing it about once a month whenever Callaghan started looking like this--he claimed that something about rubbing it helped him feel better. 

Once as a child he’d asked the professor about what made him look so ill, and Callaghan had told him that he had “moon sickness”, some sort of disease that was tied to the cycles of the moon. Fred’s father, however, had pulled him aside later and told him that Callaghan had some sort of rare chronic illness that gave him a weak immune system and it was rude to ask about it, so Fred had finally let it go, realizing that Callaghan had come up with the story of the supposed moon sickness in order to make him feel less scared. After all, there wasn’t such a thing as moon sickness--right?

It was then that something finally clicked into place in Fred’s brain. Wait. Wait, wait, wait! Tadashi had just told him that there were other mythical beings in the city, right? Could that mean--? But no, it was impossible! Callaghan, the most down-to-earth man that he’d ever know, couldn’t be--

His mind zooms back into the present, hoping to find evidence to either corroborate or dismiss the insane idea that was forming in his brain. As things come back into focus, he suddenly realizes something very important, and he freezes. Wings--Tadashi’s wings were out! Shit, how had he been so careless and let this happen?

“T-Tadashi!” he gasps out, doubting that Callaghan hadn't seen the wings by now but making a vain attempt to try to fix things if he could.

“Ah, Mr. Lee, thank you for finally rejoining us,” Callaghan says with a rueful smile. 

“I-- You-- Y-You’re not freaking out about this?” Fred stammers out. 

“No, I am not, as you put it ‘freaking out’,” Callaghan answers dryly. 

“Fred, it’s okay!” Tadashi was grinning over at him, his face practically glowing. “My wings accidentally appeared because I wasn’t concentrating, but it’s fine! It turns out he’s one of us!”

“One of-- Holy shit…” Fred breathes, realizing that his crazy theory wasn’t so crazy after all. “Y-You’re not human, are you?” he says, turning to Callaghan. 

“Not entirely, or at least not since I was turned when I was just about your age,” Callaghan responds, seeming mildly amused.

Turned. Okay, that usually meant either vampire or werewolf, and given the overwhelming evidence--

“You’re a werewolf.” The words were a statement, not a question.

“I’m disappointed, Fred--I thought you would have figured this out years ago,” Callaghan tells him, resting his chin on his folded hands and using the tone he’d used whenever Fred hadn’t been paying enough attention in math tutoring. “I specifically gave you that book on how to identify mythical creatures when you were thirteen to try to help things along.”

“I didn’t even know that it was possible for werewolves to exist until a few days ago, cut me some slack!” Fred cries, his heart racing in his chest. Callaghan was a werewolf! A real, actual werewolf!

“I’m assuming that was when you met Mr. Hamada?” Callaghan gestures to Tadashi. 

“Y-Yeah,” Fred admits. 

“You’re so much like your father,” Callaghan sighs, shaking his head. “Not willing to believe something unless you see it right in front of your face. Although in some ways you are better off than him--he won’t believe things even when they’re right under his nose.”

“Hey!” Fred protests. “Cut me some slack, I believed in mythicals for a really long time until I got it beaten out of me by the other kids at school!”

“Wait, the kids at your school hurt you?” Tadashi cries, looking horrified. 

“Let’s just say I had to spend my lunchtimes under an abandoned stairway if I didn’t want to get hurt for reading fantasy novels at school,” Fred mutters, not meeting his eyes. 

“I’m very sorry to hear that.” Callaghan’s expression softens as he reaches over to place a hand on Fred’s shoulder. “I wish I’d known that you were having such a hard time of things--why didn’t you ever come to me for help?”

“I didn’t think anyone else should be fighting my battles for me,” Fred answers, shrugging and not quite meeting his eyes, before asking, “What did you mean about my dad? D-Does he know that you’re--?”

“I’ve tried to find ways to ease him into it, but he’s never been very open to the subject,” Callaghan answers, sounding tired, as if thinking about a battle that he’d been fighting for quite some time. “He doesn’t have as open a mind as you, and if I so much as mention werewolves to him he acts like I’m out of my mind.”

“I’m sorry,” Fred says softly. “I can’t imagine not having a friend believe you when you’re trying to share something so personal with them…”

“I suppose it can’t be helped.” Callaghan shrugs before standing up. “But that’s enough of that for now. I have somewhere I want to take you and Mr. Hamada that I think will interest both of you greatly.”

“Really? Where?” Fred asks eagerly, curious to see what else this crazy afternoon might have in store for them.

“Patience,” Callaghan laughs. “You’ll see when we get there.”

“Did he give you any idea of where we’re going while I was zoned out?” Fred whispers to Tadashi when they were out in the hallway, Tadashi’s wings safely hidden from view again.

“I’m not sure--he just said it’s somewhere he thinks will help me be able to continue my studies?” Tadashi answers softly. “Maybe it’s a classroom where I can study here at the university?”

Well that didn’t sound terribly interesting. Still, if it made Tadashi happy, Fred wasn’t about to squash his excitement. 

“Ah, here we are,” Callaghan says when they come to a door at the end of a dimly lit hallway, punching a code into a keypad--it was the only door in the entire hallway that had such a fancy lock on it. Fred felt himself getting nervous in spite of his best efforts--he’d known Callaghan for years, and he knew that he’d never hurt him, but all the same this dark and dismal setting was starting to creep him out, especially since he had no idea what was on the other side of the door.

“Right through here,” Callaghan says once the door is open, gesturing for them to step inside. 

Before Fred’s nerves can get the better of him, Tadashi takes his hand and pulls him along into--

“Whoa.” Fred gasps as he realizes that they were standing in a student lab. It looked a lot like the ones Fred had seen on campus tours, but also incredibly different. It was full of bright colors, and a sort of organized chaos seemed to reign. And it was clearly magical--if not just in the atmosphere, but in the students who were working in the lab. 

There were only three present, working in small offices cordoned off by movable dividers, but Fred could tell from a glance that none of them were human. One blonde girl, working with a brightly colored chemistry set, was clearly a fae like Tadashi, with large pink and yellow wings, although unlike Tadashi she had fuzzy pink antennae to match on the top of her head. (Maybe she was more of a moth fairy as opposed to a butterfly fairy? Was that a thing?) The raven haired girl in the office next to her who was fiddling with some sort of experimental looking bike appeared mostly human, but where her arms should have been she had raven colored wings ending in clawed hands, so Fred could only assume that she was a harpy, if he was remembering his Greek mythology correctly. The final student working in a third office was a man who also looked almost entirely human, but when Fred spotted a sealskin that was carefully folded over the back of the computer chair in his office, he was pretty sure that he was looking at a selkie. 

“Students!” Professor Callaghan calls to them as he follows Fred and Tadashi into the room, carefully shutting the door and locking it behind them. “I’ve brought someone else who’s going to be learning with us here! Please do your best to make him feel welcome and help him however you can--like most of you when you first came here, he’s got a lot of catching up to do but he’s eager to learn.”

“Oh my gosh, hi!” The blonde turns around, her eyes lighting up when she spots Tadashi, who had let his wings become visible again. “Tadashi, is that you?!”

“Honey Lemon?” Tadashi cries in disbelief before grinning back at her. “I-I can’t believe it! I haven’t seen you since we were kids and your family moved out of the city!”

“I know, right?” Honey Lemon (who, to Fred’s surprise, was actually taller than Tadashi) wraps the other fae into a tight hug that lifted him a few inches above the ground before setting him back down. “Are you guys still living in the park?” 

“Well, we were until a few days ago,” Tadashi answers with a rueful smile, not seeming to mind the hug (Fred, for his part, was trying to decide if he should be getting jealous or not right now.) “I got caught by some kids the other night and after that Aunt Cass decided it wasn’t safe for us to live there anymore so we’ve moved to some new accommodations nearby.” 

“ _ Dios mio! _ ” Honey Lemon claps her hands over her mouth. “That’s terrible! Are you okay?” 

“I am, thanks to Fred,” Tadashi answers, reaching over to take Fred’s hand in his own and smiling at him in a way that made Fred realize he had absolutely nothing to worry about. 

“Oh, I see!” Honey Lemon beams at them. “Tadashi, is this your boyfriend?”

“Well, not boyfriend yet, but I’m hoping that we’re heading that way?” Tadashi answers bashfully. 

“I’m definitely very much okay with that,” Fred agrees, squeezing his hand. 

“Awww, that’s so sweet!” Honey Lemon says eagerly. “And it’s very nice to meet you, Fred!”

“You too,” Fred answers, deciding that he liked Honey Lemon a lot--she seemed really nice and friendly.

“Oh, Tadashi, you have to meet my girlfriend!” Honey Lemon cries, racing over the office next to her own and taking the harpy by the arm (or, wing?) and dragging her back over to the other two. “Tadashi, this is Gogo! Gogo, this is Tadashi, we lived in the same park when we were kids!”

“Hey.” Gogo looked slightly uncomfortable with the social interaction, but she nods to both Tadashi and Fred, clearly at least making an attempt to be friendly.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Gogo,” Tadashi answers with a smile. 

“Oh, and this is Wasabi!” Honey Lemon adds as the selkie comes to join them.

“David! My name is David!” the man protests, looking put out by her introduction.

“But we all call him Wasabi,” Gogo says with a smirk. 

“I think that’s an awesome nickname!” Fred says enthusiastically. 

“Thanks…” David/Wasabi gives him a begrudging smile. 

“So, what exactly is this place?” Tadashi asks with curiosity, his eyes taking in the lab. 

“It’s a lab that I put together here at the school so that those like my daughter could study in peace without having to try to hide their identities,” Callaghan explains, rejoining the conversation. 

“People like-- Wait, Abigail?” Fred looks at him in disbelief. “But she’s huma-- Oh. Wait. No. I guess if you’re a werewolf, then she’s--?”

“Yes, she’s also a werewolf,” Callaghan agrees with a smile. 

“Whoa… No way! I totally have so many questions for her the next time that I see her!” Fred laughs. 

“Well, if you stick around you’ll probably see her later on today--she usually comes here during the nights of the full moon, as do I,” Callaghan answers. “Even though the moonstones help us keep our human minds during the change, it’s safer this way, and it’s easier to be out of the public eye while in wolf form. You can imagine the panic it might cause if people saw two full grown wolves out in the city.”

“Yeah, that makes a lot of sense,” Fred agrees. 

“You know Abigail?” Honey Lemon asks curiously. 

“Sure! We grew up as kids together,” Fred answers. “I just didn’t know that she was a werewolf until today!” 

“Wait--you grew up together and you didn’t know?” Gogo looks him over with slight distrust. 

“His family wasn’t exactly open to the existence of mythicals,” Callaghan explains on his behalf. “This is a fairly new development for him.” 

“So you’re human?” Wasabi asks. 

“Yeah, just plain human,” Fred answers with an embarrassed shrug, starting to feel very out of place here.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, actually.” 

“Wait, what?” Fred turns to Callaghan, sure that he’d misheard him. “Y-You’re joking, right?” 

“Why would I joke about something like that?” 

“Because-- I-- I-It’s crazy!” Fred stammers out, his brain refusing to accept what he was hearing. “I would know if I wasn’t human, right? My parents would surely know-- And you told me that my dad wouldn’t believe you when you told him about being a werewolf, how could he be mythical?” 

“Just because he didn’t believe it doesn’t mean it isn’t true,” Callaghan answers before reaching out and carefully touching a patch of scales that Fred had had on the side of his neck for almost as long as he could remember. “You don’t see scales like this on a human.” 

“B-But…” Fred stammers out before shaking his head. No way. No way! This was way too much for him to process. 

“W-What exactly are you trying to say that I am if I’m not human?” he finally manages to get out.

“I don’t know, exactly,” Callaghan admits. “It’s harder to tell with you since you’re only partial blood. Your mother, as far as I know, comes from an entirely human family. I never had the chance to meet your father’s parents but I believe that your father is half blood, at the most, and clearly his family never explained things to him, quite possibly hoping to keep him safe from whatever must have caused them to go into hiding in the first place. Most mythical creatures can make themselves appear human, at least for limited periods of time, and a mythical with human blood may be born appearing fully human, at least until they grow older, and when or if they fully accept their mythical form. But even in human form there are usually tells--your scales, for example.”

“I… T-This is a lot to process,” Fred admits, and he was grateful that he could feel Tadashi’s arm around his waist for support. Finding out that mythicals were real was one thing. Finding out that he might very well be one was something else entirely. He’d always dreamed of being something other than human as a kid, but actually being confronted with the possibility that that very well might be true was almost too much for him to handle right now.

“I’m sorry,” Callaghan says, looking apologetic. “I realize that I’ve asked you to accept quite a lot of new things today, and you’re probably reaching your limit. This isn’t something that you have to concern yourself with just yet--unless for some reason you come into contact with a magic that would trigger a full transformation, you may be able to go through your whole life without having to worry about ever changing forms unless you reach a point when you’re ready for it.”

“Um…” Tadashi exchanges a glance with Fred before guiltily reaching down to roll up the sleeve of Fred’s shirt. “T-That may actually be a problem…”


	8. Chapter 8

Fred wasn’t totally surprised when Callaghan looked aghast at the thick layer of scales on his forearm. What did catch him off guard was when Tadashi gasps, “Fred, why didn’t you tell me this was getting worse?”

“I-I was trying to tell myself that I was imagining things and it wasn’t actually getting any worse?” Fred mumbles, realizing that the lie he’d been telling himself wasn’t at all true.

“How did this happen, and how long has this been going on?” Callaghan asks sharply, not sounding angry, exactly, but very, very concerned.

“M-Monday?” Fred answers, feeling like his head was spinning--everything was moving far, far too quickly. 

“My aunt made a healing poultice for him--we had no idea that it would cause this, we didn’t even know he was a mythical!” Tadashi adds. 

“This… Is not good.” Callaghan shakes his head. “Left on its own, without any magic, most part-humans can go their whole lives without completely turning unless they want to. But when magic is added to the equation, it exponentially speeds up the process…”

“What are you saying?” Fred’s heart was beating like a drum against his chest. “T-There’s a way to reverse this, right?”

“Unfortunately, no, not at this point--it’s gone too far. All part humans gradually start progressing towards their mythical forms the older they get, but usually they end up passing before they can fully turn. The theory--that has happened in many cases that I’ve heard of--is that they have to completely turn before they can go back to a fully human form, and after that they can learn to switch back and forth at will. But until the first full turning, they’ll always be stuck in limbo between the two forms.”

“S-So what you’re trying to tell me…”

“I’m sorry, Fred.” Callaghan reaches out to put a hand on Fred’s shoulder. “But whether you’re ready or not, you’re going to have to fully turn.”

“O-Oh my God…” Fred leans against Tadashi for support. He was so, so not ready for this. As much as he’d always thought it would be cool to be a mythical being, now that he was facing down the reality of having to become something other than human he was terrified, especially as he had no idea what he was going to turn into

“The only thing I can offer you is the choice of whether you want to let it happen naturally, however long that takes, or if you want me to give you something that will speed up the process so that you can get the process over with quicker,” Callaghan tells him, obviously doing everything that he could to help. “The downside of the faster option is that it is more painful, as you go through all of the changes at once, but letting it happen on its own would mean it would be quite some time before you could go out in public again, especially depending on how drastic the changes are…”

“I-I guess that the faster option would probably be best,” Fred answers robotically, all of his insides having gone numb, overloaded by everything that was happening.

“All right then.” Callaghan nods. “I’ll grab the necessary supplies and then we’ll get you somewhere where you’ll be comfortable and safe for the turning. I know it doesn’t help much, but it is a full moon tonight, and that can sometimes help things go smoother.”

“Okay.” It didn’t really change anything, but somewhere in the part of his brain that was still functioning he was grateful that Callaghan was trying to help him feel better about all of this.

“Where do you want to go?” Tadashi asks gently as Callaghan leaves to get whatever it was that he needed. “Do you want to be at home for this?”

“Y-Yeah,” Fred agrees shakily. As scared as he was, he wished that his family could be with him for this, but considering how much his dad had apparently shut his eyes to this, he doubted he could have convinced him to come, even if he was home. And he loved Marie but he didn’t think she would understand this either. So in that case, maybe… 

“D-Do you think your aunt could be with us? A-And Hiro if he wants to come? I-I just really don’t want to be alone when this happens…”

“Of course.” Tadashi tenderly kisses his cheek. “I know they’ll be happy to come, and we all want to be there to support you. You’re definitely not going to be alone.”

“Thanks, Dashi,” Fred gratefully squeezes his hand. 

“Damn…” Wasabi says softly, reminding Fred that there were others in the room. “This is-- I’ve never heard of anyone going through something like this before, but I’m really sorry you’re having to deal with all of this, man.”

“Thanks…” Fred gives him the best smile that he can muster.

“I know everything’s going to be just fine, Freddy,” Honey Lemon says encouragingly. 

“And you’re always welcome here if you ever need anyone to talk to,” Gogo adds, sounding a bit gruff, but Fred appreciated the sentiment all the same.

“T-Thank you guys… That means a lot…”

“And hey.” Wasabi gently nudges his shoulder. “With those scales, maybe you’re part mer? Could turn out we’re distant cousins or something!” 

“Heh, that would be pretty cool,” Fred admits, finding his mood starting to life slightly. All of this was still incredibly scary, but it was nice knowing that he had a support system. And being a merman might not be so bad… 

“Oh my gosh!” The door to the lab comes bursting open as a woman who Fred immediately recognized as Abigail races in. “Oh my gosh, Fred! I just heard from my dad what happened! Are you okay? Are you in any pain right now? What can I do to help?”

“Hey, Abi…” Fred’s words were muffled as Abigail pulls him into a tight hug.

“I had no idea about any of this, I swear, or I would have tried to talk to you sooner!” Abigail says as she pulls away. 

“It’s okay, Abi--I’m not mad at anyone,” Fred reassures her. “It’s… A lot to process. But I’m trying to come to terms with it. I mean, there’s not much else I can do, right?”

“Still…” Abigail puts her hands on his shoulders. “If there’s anything I can do tonight-- _ anything _ \--you tell me, okay?”

“Well…. Do you think you could be there when I, well… Turn?” The phrase was still a bit foreign in his mouth, but he got the feeling that it was yet another thing that he was going to have to get used to. 

“Sure.” Abigail nods firmly. “I’ll absolutely be there. Although my dad said it’s probably best to do it after moonup so as long as me being there as a wolf won’t be weird for you…”

“Actually, it might make me feel a bit better not being the only one going through a change tonight,” Fred admits, hoping that didn’t sound incredibly selfish.

“I get it,” Abigail reassures him. “I remember my first turning--it was a bit scary, but it was less scary than it would have been without Dad being there.”

“Was it… Weird, turning for the first time?” Fred asks tentatively, hoping that maybe hearing about Abigail’s experience might help him feel a bit braver about all of this. 

“A bit, yeah,” Abigail admits. “I mean… Changing out of human form? That’s always really scary the first time, letting go of everything that you’ve lived with for your entire life. And it can take a bit to get used to the new body setup. But then after a bit you realize it’s the same body, even if it’s changed shape, and you’re still you. And it can actually be kinda fun getting to explore your new form once the shock wears off.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Fred offers her a small smile.

“Of course, little bro.” Abigail playfully ruffles his hair, and he couldn’t even be mad because he secretly loved it when she called him her little brother.

“Oh, I guess while we’re waiting for your dad I should introduce you to Tadashi?” Fred says, realizing that he hadn’t introduced the two of them yet. “Abigail, this is Tadashi, the guy who might eventually may end up being my boyfriend depending on how we both feel about things in the future? And Tadashi, this is Abigail, Professor Callaghan’s daughter and one of my oldest friends.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Tadashi says politely, putting his hand out for a shake.

“Likewise.” Abigail shakes his hand back. “Although to be truthful I’m still a bit confused on how you guys met since Fred apparently didn’t know about any of this until very recently?”

“Well, I guess we have some time until your dad gets back.” Fred shrugs. “We can give you the rundown if you want.” 

_ Might help keep me distracted so I don’t overthink things and panic, _ he mentally adds.

“Ooh, yes, couples origin story time!” Honey Lemon squeals. 

“Sure, sounds great,” Abigail chuckles, taking a seat on a nearby chair. “Fire away!”

And so Fred finds himself sharing the story (with quite a lot of input from Tadashi) until professor Callaghan arrives.

“All right, are you ready to go?” the professor asks as he walks back in. 

“As I’ll ever be,” Fred answers wryly, although he was actually feeling quite a bit more confident than he had before. 

“I’m assuming that you probably want to go home for the turning?”

“Yeah. Oh, and I asked if Abigail could come with, and she said yes, if you don’t mind?” 

“I don’t mind at all,” Professor Callaghan reassures him. “Although I’ll admit, I am a bit concerned about where at your home we’re going to be able to do this privately since I know that there’s staff throughout the house most of the time…”

“We can use the walled in garden out back where my family is living,” Tadashi offers. “We’ve been there a week so far and no one’s even noticed.” 

“That does have the benefit of being outdoors with plenty of room,” Professor Callaghan agrees. “All right, then that’s where we’ll go. If you want, I can drive us all over.”

“Sounds good,” Fred agrees--riding in Callaghan’s car sounded much better than taking the tram right now.

“Good luck! And come back to visit soon!” Honey Lemon calls, waving as they prepare to leave.

“I will,” Fred promises, waving back before walking outside.

“It’s still a few hours from moondown,” Abigail notes in the car as they drive back to Fred’s. “We’ve got some time to kill until then. Any ideas on how to do that?” 

“Fred?” Tadashi looks over at Fred. “Is there anything that we could do to help pass the time for you?”

“I-I don’t know,” Fred answers, shaking his head, some of the old fear starting to creep back in again. 

“I guess we could introduce the Callaghans to my family?” Tadashi offers when Fred fails to say anything more. 

“Sure,” Fred agrees with a small smile. “That sounds good. And it might be best to prepare them for… Well, whatever happens tonight.”

“Hey.” Tadashi presses firm kiss to his cheek. “No matter what happens, you’re still you and we’ll all still love you. And, to tell the truth, I’m getting pretty curious to find out what you are.”

“You’re not worried about what I might end up being?”

“Absolutely not--whatever you are, I’m sure you’ll be just as handsome in mythical form as you are in human form.”

“Dashi…” Fred felt himself blushing, but the reassurance was so nice that he didn’t mind.

Once they were back at the mansion, Callaghan parks the car before allowing Fred to lead the way to the back garden.

“Aunt Cass?” Tadashi calls when they reach the garden gate. “It’s us! We’re back, and we brought some visitors. They’re mythicals too, so you don’t need to be worried!”

He waits about thirty seconds to give his family enough time to have processed this information before pushing open the garden gate. 

“Tadashi!” Aunt Cass calls, fluttering over from where she had evidently been planting seeds with Hiro to join them. “How was your date? And-- Who is this?” 

“A pleasure, ma’am.” Callaghan offers her a respectful bow. “I’m Professor Robert Callaghan, and this is my daughter, Abigail. We thank you for letting us intrude on your home.”

“Robert Callaghan? Oh! You’re the one who wrote the book my nephew is always talking about!” Aunt Cass beams at him. “It’s so lovely to meet you!” 

“It’s lovely to meet the lady who raised such a bright young man as Tadashi,” Callaghan answers with a warm smile. 

“We were just about to take a break for tea,” Aunt Cass says, quickly brushing the dirt off of her hands and seeming to be trying to straighten her hair. “Won’t you join us?” 

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, we’d be honored.”

“Oh my gosh…” Abigail whispers to Tadashi, eyebrow raised as she watches this unfold. “I’m so sorry, I think my dad’s flirting with your aunt…”

“I think my aunt’s flirting with your dad, so likewise,” Tadashi answers, although Fred had some small inkling from the expression on the fae’s face that he didn’t seem to be minding this as much as Abigail was (probably because Callaghan was his idol so he didn’t mind the idea of having him hanging around.) 

“I’ve never met a lycanthrope before,” Aunt Cass was saying--apparently she and Callaghan had already gotten that far in the conversation while their charges were exchanging awkward apologies. “Do you mind if I ask how it happened, or if you were born with the gene?”

“Not at all, my lady. It actually happened when I was just about Tadashi’s age--”

“Hey.” Hiro, clearly not interested in watching his caretaker flirting, flies over to where the other teens were standing. “So, what exactly is going on here?” 

“Abigail, Hiro. Hiro, Abigail,” Tadashi quickly introduces them.

“Yeah, yeah, I heard her name the first time,” Hiro answers, crossing his arms over his chest. “Look, not to be rude, but I’m a little bit worried about you guys just showing up with visitors without any warning. Could you at least clue me in on what’s going on?” 

“Sorry, he’s not used to talking to strangers,” Tadashi apologizes on Hiro’s behalf.

“Hey!”

“No, it’s not a problem.” Abigail waves aside his concerns. “Sorry, I know coming into a fae’s territory unannounced is a big thing, kinda like coming into a wolf’s territory without permission. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for helping Fred.”

“Helping Fred?” Hiro repeats, still seeming suspicious. “Helping Fred with what?”

“Well, with… turning,” Fred admits.

“Turning? Turning what?” Hiro taps his foot impatiently in the air. “Please explain using clear English!”

“Okay, fine! We found out that apparently I’m not entirely human and whatever was in the poultice your aunt made triggered off me transforming or something so tonight I’ve got to transform, or turn, all the way or just be stuck in the middle until it happens on its own! That clear enough for you?” Fred hadn’t meant to snap, but he was more than a bit on edge and Hiro, intending to or not, was pressing some major buttons. 

“...Shit. S-Sorry, I didn’t know,” Hiro mumbles, looking completely caught off guard. “That… That’s really rough. You holding up okay?” 

“Apparently not as well as I thought I was,” Fred sighs. 

“It’s okay.” Tadashi squeezes his shoulder. “We’re here for you, and you’re going to get through this.”

“So… What exactly are you guys doing here?” Hiro asks, scuffing the air with the toe of his shoe, still looking guilty.

“We figured this would best and safest place for Fred’s turning,” Tadashi explains. “Professor Callaghan said after moonup would probably be the best time for it since it’s a full moon tonight and apparently that can help, so until then we’re trying to pass the time and hopefully help Fred stay calm. The professor isn’t quite sure what Fred is so there are a lot of unknowns which makes this even more stressful than even a regular first turning might be.”

“Got it.” Hiro nods. “I’ll help out however I can, just tell me what to do!”

Hiro turning around like that definitely helped bolster Fred’s confidence--if even Hiro was being supportive, that meant he really had a great support system behind him. 

“I know one of the best ways to get your mind off of things and help time pass quickly,” Abigail says to Fred with a grin. “Video games! How about a  _ Mario Party _ tournament?” 

“Oh my gosh, we haven’t done that in forever!” Fred cries, quickly latching onto the idea--he would never turn down getting to play with Abigail, she was one of the best gamers that he knew.

“Any chance I could get in on this?” Hiro asks a bit hesitantly. 

“You’ve played videos games before?” Abigail asks curiously.

“Not Mario Party, but he was totally acing  _ Kingdom Hearts _ the other night!” Fred puts in.

“Nice! Sure, the more players the merrier!” Abigail nods. “What about you, Tadashi? You interested?” 

“I-I don’t know, I’ve never actually played before,” Tadashi admits.

“Well then Mario Party is one of the best games to get started with!” 

“C’mon!” Fred says encouragingly. “It’ll be fun!”

“...All right then,” Tadashi finally agrees. “In that case, I’m in.”

Fred got the feeling that Tadashi was only agreeing because he thought it would help him feel better, and the fact that he was willing to risk gaming humiliation for his sake meant the world to him.

“I think it’s almost sundown,” Abigail says a few hours later, looking out the window as the teens come to the end of their second round of _ Mario Party _ . “Probably should get heading outside soon.”

“Aw man, really?” Hiro complains. “But we were just about to do our tie breaker round!”

“There wasn’t any chance of you defeating me, shortstack, so maybe it’s better for your sake!”

“Hey! That’s offensive!” Hiro cries. 

“I wasn’t talking about you being a fae, I meant that even by human standards you’re short!” 

“Still!” 

“Oh grow up!”

“I think that Hiro made a friend!” Tadashi tells Fred quietly, seeming to be trying to suppress a laugh.

“I think so,” Fred agrees with a grin before sobering as he realizes what he was about to do.

“Hey.” Tadashi reaches over to squeeze his shoulder, gently rubbing it as if trying to release the tension in it. “It’s okay. You are going to be okay. I’m going to be right by your side through this whole thing, no matter what happens.”

“Thanks, Dashi.” Fred gives him a grateful smile before taking a deep breath and nodding. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“There you are.” Professor Callaghan looked relieved as they reach the garden. “I was starting to worry you wouldn’t be back before moonup.”

“Don’t worry, Dad, I was keeping an eye on things--I know it would be super awkward for Fred if he had to sneak a wolf out of his house,” Abigail answers with a wry smile.

“Good.” Professor Callaghan nods his approval before looking to Fred. “All right. I think this is probably the best time for you to change--it still gives me and Abigail a few minutes in human form to help should anything… Well, in case you need our help for any reason.” 

“R-Right,” Fred agrees, swallowing thickly. He was doing this--he was really doing this.

“Here.” Professor Callaghan pulls a small glass bottle full of a purple liquid out of his bag. “This is for you. It’s something I developed a long time ago--I think it should help speed up the process of turning for you. I wish I could say it would help lessen the pain, but I won’t lie to you--your body’s first time shifting from one form to another is never easy. It gets better with time, but the first time is always a bit of an ordeal.”

“But the good news is it’s in your genes,” Abigail quickly puts in. “That should make it less painful than if, say, you’d been bitten and were turned that way.”

“That is very true,” Professor Callaghan agrees. 

“Got it.” Fred nods, trying to steady himself.

“We’re here for you, honey.” Aunt Cass, who had become human size in their absence, comes over to wrap him in a tight hug. “I know everything will be just fine.”    
“Thanks, Aunt Cass.” Fred hugs her tightly back, trying to draw comfort and strength from the embrace.

“Hey. You’ve got this.” Hiro, who seemed a bit unsure of how to handle himself in this situation, gently nudges his arm. 

“Thanks.” Fred offers him the best smile that he can manage.

“I believe in you.” Tadashi pulls him into one final hug before chastely pecking his lips. “No matter what happens, I’m going to be here to support you.”

“We all will,” Professor Callaghan agrees.

“Thanks guys…” Fred takes one last breath for courage before uncorking the bottle and downing the contents.

The potion, or whatever it was, didn’t taste terrible--Fred thought it tasted oddly like nighttime, although he couldn’t explain how or why since nighttime didn’t have an actual taste. It felt cold going down, like drinking water from a waterfall or rushing stream. At first there wasn’t anything but that cold feeling trickling down his throat and into his stomach. 

But then there was heat--everything was so, so incredibly hot. Not just hot-- _ burning _ . It was like when the poultice had been on his arm, only worse. Every inch of him, inside and out, felt like it was on fire, and he couldn’t even scream because smoke was clogging his lungs. 

He felt himself collapsing to the ground, but he didn’t even have the ability to catch himself to soften the fall. It felt like his entire body was made of magma, bubbling and stretching, completely changing form, but it was all he could do to hold onto consciousness, he had no room to even try to figure out what was happening to him. He could distantly hear Tadashi calling his name, but then he heard Callaghan telling him to stay back. Was he becoming some sort of monster so Callaghan didn’t think it was safe for Tadashi to be near him?

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the pain slowly ebbs away, the heat cooling and whatever his new form was hardening into something that felt incredibly solid, in spite of the fact that he was trembling like a leaf. 

“Now, you can go to him,” Callaghan’s voice rings out through the silence.

“Fred!” Moments later, Fred heard who he could only assume was Tadashi running towards him, and soon after that he felt strong arms under his head, lifting it up and settling it against something soft and warm, before hands start to gently stroke the top of it. 

“It’s okay, Fred! It’s over--you’re okay now,” he hears Tadashi saying soothingly. 

Fred just nods, refusing to open his eyes or even try to use his voice for fear of what he’d find. 

“Fred? Fred, please talk to me--at least let me know that you’re alright, that you’re not in pain right now,” Tadashi gently begs.

“D-Dashi?” Fred finally dares to use his words--thank God, he could still speak, that was a good sign. And his voice sounded mostly the same, except with maybe a bit more gravel to it, so that was enough to give him a small ray of hope. 

“Oh, thank goodness…” He feels Tadashi pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “I was so worried… I-I wanted to help you, but Professor Callaghan said it might hurt you or put you in danger if I accidentally interfered with the turning.”

Well that was also a relief--apparently he wasn’t a monster. Or, at least, he hoped not. He still had yet to find out, and he was still far too terrified to open his eyes. 

“Dashi?” 

“Yes, Fred?”

“W-What am I?” 

“Why don’t you take a look for yourself.” Tadashi’s voice was soft but almost playful. 

“I-I’m too scared to…”

“You have nothing to be afraid of!” 

“But I am! Please… Just tell me,” Fred begs.

“All right,” Tadashi finally relents, pressing another kiss to the top of his head. “You’re a dragon, Fred.”

“I’m a  _ what _ ?!” Fred’s eyes fly open before he can stop them, and he gapes down at himself, hardly daring to believe what he was seeing. Two golden, clawed feet in front of him. Turning back, he could see a long tail of the same color and wings.  _ Wings _ . He freaking had wings!

“Are you upset?” Tadashi asks carefully, clearly not sure how to take Fred’s reaction.

“Are you kidding me? This is  _ amazing _ !” Fred cries, his heart leaping in his chest. He was a dragon. A mother freaking dragon! 

“I-I’ve loved dragons since I was a kid! I’ve always thought it would be the coolest thing ever to be one, but I never thought I’d actually--!”

“Well I’m glad you think so!” Tadashi places a gentle kiss on his nose (snout? There was probably a lot of dragon biology he still had to learn, but that he was more than okay with that!)

“A-Are you okay with this?” Fred suddenly thinks to ask. “I mean, is it weird for a dragon and a fairy to be dating?” 

“Trust me, there have been odder couples, and I personally think you look amazing both ways,” Tadashi answers, stroking the top of his head and giving him the most loving, adoration filled smile that Fred was sure he’d be blushing if dragons could blush. (Could they? That was one of many, many things he’d be trying to figure out.) 

“Plus, wings means you can actually fly like us!” Hiro says as he comes over to join them. “We’ll have you up and flying on them in no time!” 

“Oh my gosh, that’s right, this means I can fly…” Fred breathes--how much better could this night get?

“Very impressive, Mr. Lee.” Fred turns to see a large, silver wolf walking towards him--apparently sometime during his transformation Professor Callaghan and Abigail had turned as well. 

“I haven’t seen a live dragon in… Well, longer than I can remember,” the professor continues. “This clearly explains why your ancestors would have kept this hidden--dragons were hunted almost to extinction before they went into hiding. But dragons have a very long, proud history, which I’ll be very glad to tell you about some day if you ever want to hear an old man’s tales.” 

“I-I’d really like that, actually,” Fred admits before laughing as Abigail playfully headbutts him. 

“Looking good, Fred!” she says, grinning up at him.

“Heh, you too, Abi,” he answers--seeing her new form, he had to admit that she made an excellent wolf.

“We’re all very proud of you, Fred,” Aunt Cass says, coming over to wrap her arms around his neck. “You were so brave, and I’m so happy that you’re satisfied with the results.”

“So can you breathe fire and stuff?” Hiro asks eagerly, and Fred bites back a laugh--Hiro was acting like a little kid on Christmas!

“I think so,” Fred answers. He finally had an explanation as to why everything in his transformation had involved fire--in full dragon form, he could feel a furnace glowing in his chest, and he knew that he’d be able to use it when the time came. But maybe not tonight. As happy as he was with how things had turned out, he was still incredibly exhausted, and his rush of adrenaline was starting to wear off. 

“I believe that’s something that we can test at another time,” Professor Callaghan says, as if reading his thoughts. “For now, I think Fred will be glad to go back to human form and get some rest. He’s been through quite a lot tonight.”

“That definitely sounds good,” Fred agrees, relieved that he hadn’t had to say anything. 

“Here.” Callaghan nudges forward a chain with a small locket on the end of it. “I think that this should help with changing back.”

“What is it?” Fred asks curiously.

“It contains a mixture of crushed moonstone with a bit of werewolf fur--as wolves are one of the mythical beings who transform most regularly, I thought it might help.”

“It certainly can’t hurt,” Fred agrees--as much as he was enjoying being a dragon, he was very eager to make sure that he could actually turn back.

“Tadashi, will you please fasten it around his neck for him?” 

“Right!” Tadashi quickly agrees, picking up the locket and clasping it around Fred’s neck. 

“So what do I do now?” Fred asks, trying not to overthink the fact that he had no idea what he was doing.

“Just relax your mind and body, and focus on the form that you want to take,” Professor Callaghan coaches him.

“Right.” Fred closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.  _ I want to be human. I want to be human. I want to be human… _

Slowly, he felt his body starting to shrink, relaxing and softening until he was pretty sure he was back in human form again. 

“There you go.” He opens his eyes to see Tadashi smiling down at him. “See? Nothing to it.” 

“That actually didn’t hurt this time,” Fred admits, incredibly relieved that it hadn’t been as painful as shifting to dragon form. (And also silently very, very relieved that his clothes had reappeared with his human body--apparently magic cared about modesty, it would have been incredibly awkward to end up naked right in front of Tadashi.) 

“As I said, the first change is always the most painful, and I believe that changing back to the form that you’re most used to is often much easier than changing to an unfamiliar form,” Professor Callaghan explains. “I hope with time turning to dragon form will become easier and less painful for you until it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Good to know.” Fred nods, gratefully relaxing back against Tadashi, who was tenderly running his fingers through his hair. 

“You were so brave tonight, and I’m so proud of you,” Tadashi says with a glowing smile.

“Thanks, Dashi.” Fred grins tiredly up at him before looking around the garden. He still half couldn’t believe that he was here--surrounded by three fae and two werewolves, after finding out that he himself was a dragon. He still had so many questions, and so many things he wanted to learn, both about himself and the mythical community in general. But for tonight, this was enough. Being held in Tadashi’s arms, feeling more at peace with himself than he had in possibly his entire life, was enough. 


End file.
